Story Line: The town of San Julian offers something different to three travelers: Roberto (Javier Lombardo) hopes to make an impression on his secret love, a prepossessing widow; Don Justo (Antonio Benedicti), trying to reunite with his long-lost dog, hopes the animal will forgive him; and young mother Maria (Javiera Bravo) seeks fame and fortune as a game show contestant.
Bottom Line: This movie's greatest strength as a work of art is its primary weakness as a commercial attraction. The general plot is so minor and the individual incidents so trivial that some viewers are bound to wonder why they are investing 94 minutes of their time on this film. A lost dog and the delivery of a cream pie are not exactly the stuff of compelling stories. And yet, director Sorin weaves from these flimsy threads an altogether beguiling little movie that's warm, gentle and perceptive. Intimate Stories bespeaks a rare knowledge of human nature, and its deliberate avoidance of profound or important themes adds to its charm. Sorin makes this simple road movie interesting by separating the principal characters and having their paths intersect unexpectedly while on the journey. It's a clever bit of narrative footwork that deserves more attention than the film will probably receive, but New Yorker's core audience will eat it up.
Color, NR (nothing offensive), 94 min., DVD $29.95, VHS $24.95, Spanish with English subtitles