An oasis amongst the summer film dreck, Mother & Child, is another fine offering by Rodrigo Garcia , (Nine Lives), who just happens to be the son of famed author Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

This is no mere chick flick, which it is, but it’s so much more.

The film introduces us to three diverse women whose lives manage to weave in and out of each others with dramatic consequences. The central theme is motherhood & adoption.

There’s Elizabeth (Naomi Watts), a smart, beautiful lawyer with ice in her veins. She starts up a romance with her boss (Samuel L. Jackson).

For Karen (Annette Bening), it’s the heartbreak of an unknown daughter that colors everything in her life. Her love store has gone out of business. She never got over her teen age pregnancy and being forced to give her baby up for a closed adoption. A new co-worker at her health care service ( Jimmy Smits), somehow manages to thaw her out with his gentle persistence.

Finally, we meet Lucy (Kerry Washington), the young woman distraught over her failure to produce a child with her husband. We find the two at an adoption agency, the central plot clearinghouse.

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, but you won’t feel guilty, even if you’re a man. Mother & Child is a beautifully acted intelligent film. Five Stars. Get thee to Movies.com for show times in your area.