Rated PG13

Starring Selma Hayek, Lumi Cavazos, Edward James Olmos, Mia Maestro, Pilar Pidilla and Mark Anthony

Heidi’s Illustrious Rating: 3

This movie is based on a book by Julia Alvarez (for the record, I have not read the book). In the book by the same name, Alvarez chronicles the experiences of Las Mariposas (code name meaning The Butterflies), three sisters who were active members in the underground movement opposed to dictator of the Dominican Republic, Rafael Trujillo, in 1960.

Selma Hayek plays Minerva, a smart, headstrong girl from a family of sisters. She wants to be a lawyer, but Trujillo has forbid women from attending law school. Her family resides quietly in the beautiful countryside, as good, loyal citizens, but Minerva has other plans. She meets a young member of the resistance (Mark Anthony) and she falls in love with him and his cause.  She becomes submersed in the underground activities associated with the movement.

When we rented this movie, we didn’t realize it was made for television and it has obvious pauses for commercial breaks that ultimately take away from the flow of the story. It is a colorful movie, painting a very pretty picture of the Dominican Republic countryside. Rafael Trujillo is a dictator who doesn’t get as much play as others, so this movie sheds light on a time in history about which I knew very little.

The acting is good and Selma Hayek is her usual stunning portrait of a Latin woman. There is some violence, but being a made for television movie, it isn’t as terrible as it could have been. This isn’t up there with “Death and the Maiden” (1994) – a gripping film by Roman Polanski, in which Sigourney Weaver is relentlessly tortured for her role in an uprising against a fascist regime in an unnamed Latin American country.

Overall, “In the Time of the Butterflies” is a solid movie that is worth the time spent watching it.