In California, a group of women struggle with personal problems as their paths intertwine in unexpected ways. Dr. Elaine Keener, the sole caretaker for her aging mother, turns to tarot card reader Christine for spiritual aid. Christine grapples with her own angst due to her lover's debilitating illness. Meanwhile, a bank manager deals with an unwanted pregnancy, two sisters pursue romantic interests and a housewife gets back into the dating game.
Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy. 2 wins & 1 nomination total
Top Critics Reviews
fresh:
If the stories sometimes use Creative Writing 101 devices (like a quasi-prophetic homeless woman), the total effect is as spare and haunting as the film's arid, beautifully shot setting.
– ,
TIME Magazine,
13 Jun 2010
fresh:
What does it say when a picture like Rodrigo Garcia's lovingly detailed Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her, which won the first-time writer-director a prize at Cannes last year, doesn't make it to theaters in this country?
– Stephanie Zacharek,
Salon.com,
9 Mar 2001
fresh:
For every moment that sags, there are three or four that stand out as the kind of thing we never get to see in movies.
– Mick LaSalle,
San Francisco Chronicle,
3 Aug 2001
fresh:
Garcia excels at eliciting strong performances throughout and maintaining a consistent mood poised delicately between wry comedy and more serious contemplation of contemporary American female lives.
– Geoff Andrew,
Time Out,
9 Feb 2006
fresh:
A collection of five femme-oriented vignettes that are not intricately linked dramatically but overlap characters, this observant, emotionally acute drama is distinguished by a pronounced poetic sensibility in its writing and visual style.