Margarita Happy Hour
Passport Pictures | Release Date: March 22, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
2
Negative:
1

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Chaiken manages to make the film conversational without seeming talky, the curse of many New York filmmakers, and she has as sure an instinct for the succinct image and brisk pacing as she does for dialogue. Read full review
80
Village VoiceJessica Winter
Chaiken ably balances real-time rhythms with propulsive incident -- she catches subtler interior strains, too. Read full review
80
New Times (L.A.)Bill Gallo
Here's a knowing look at female friendship, spiked with raw urban humor. Read full review
80
VarietyDennis Harvey
Emerges a surprisingly in-depth, wistful look at outgrowing a youth-only subculture. Read full review
75
New York PostMegan Lehmann
At once, a joyful celebration of female friendship and an unusually honest look at newly responsible young women wistfully saying goodbye to the dreams of their youth. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Stunning, beautifully observed character study. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyHazel-Dawn Dumpert
Breaks in the film's otherwise smooth continuum, however, are bridged by Hutchins' soulful performance, and by Chaiken's excellent feel for the grace notes and steady tempo of native New York life, the sacredness of female friendship, and the precarious balance between love for oneself and for others. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The film's ensemble portrait of women caught between nostalgia for the tough and free-spirited babes they were (however much that freedom may have been illusory) and uncertainty about what their futures hold is almost painfully on target. Read full review
70
The New York TimesDave Kehr
Ms. Chaiken isn't much interested in melodramatic plot developments. Her talent lies in an evocative, accurate observation of a distinctive milieu and in the lively, convincing dialogue she creates for her characters. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
Square peg, round hole. That's what the twentysomethings who drift through Margarita Happy Hour are like. Read full review
60
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Feels like a hazy high that takes too long to shake. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
The trouble is that while Chaiken's community is nuanced, it's not exactly a warm, inviting place to spend time. It's dingy and dismal, and though not exactly humorless, Margarita Happy Hour misses many chances to be funny, at times when a laugh or two would open the picture up. Read full review
38
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
The production is as gaily colored as the margaritas, but the overall result is wan.
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