A BETTER LIFE

A Better Life (2011)
Grade: B+
Starring: Demian Bichir, Jose Julian, Dolores Heredia, Joaquin Cosio, Bobby Soto and Carlos Linares
PREMISE: A devastating loss forces an illegal immigrant and his teenage son to take a road trip in which they could either reconnect or truly grow apart.

RATED PG-13 for some violence, language, intense emotional content, and some drug use

To put it plainly, A Better Life-a poignant, gripping film-is the story of a father and a son.

If Carlos Galindo (a tremendous Demian Bichir) ever had any big dreams, he's long-since given them up. If he has any dreams, he doesn't talk about them. But, from watching a few scenes of A Better Life-and taking into account the title itself-one can assume that his ambition is to make sure his teenage son, Luis (Jose Julian), has a better life than he's had. An illegal immigrant, Carlos lives in a tiny house and works seven days a week, usually alongside his gardener/landscaper friend Blasco. He works those long hours in the hopes that he can scrape together enough money to move his son into a more promising area-Luis currently attends a school in Los Angeles that looks uncannily like a prison, and walks to and from school through slums simmering with the ever-present threat of gangs who are always looking to "adopt" new members.

Carlos is lucky enough to not have to wait on the corners of back alleys clamoring for work from random passerby, like so many of his peers, but he has problems aplenty, including the tempting but expensive possibility of obtaining Blasco's truck and work tools (which would guarantee him more jobs and more money) and his deteriorating relationship with Luis, who is already drifting into unsavory company, including a friend (Bobby Soto) who's on the verge of joining one of those gangs, and a feisty, foulmouthed girlfriend (Chelsea Rendon). Because of Carlos' work schedule-he leaves the house at sun-up and comes home after sundown-they rarely spend time together, but when an unprecedented disaster strikes, they're forced onto a road trip of sorts that may be just the thing Carlos has been looking for to erase that space between them.

What the film becomes is a study in the primal need of a father to be near his son, and, to a lesser extent, a son to his father. And, of course, they key here is for the father to be accepted by the son. The disaster that strikes their lives is utterly shocking, but the fact that it causes them to begin spending time together turns into almost as much of a blessing as a curse, at least to Carlos. After all, his son is able to see him in action-his natural generosity, smarts, and bravery-and the son is able to contribute with his resourcefulness and sense of commitment. Despite the circumstances, you know Carlos is thrilled when Luis proclaims-late in the film-"that was the most amazing thing ever!" No doubt equally thrilling to the father is the moment when his son seems down for the count--angry and embarrassed by his father's discipline in a key moment, Luis can easily stay at his friend's house, smoking weed and chilling while ignoring his father's invitation to rejoin him on their journey-but he can't seem to resist the idea of another adventure.

The two actors at the film's center are very effective, with Oscar-nominee Bichir taking the weight of the world onto his shoulders, but not letting anything get in the way of his quiet nobility. You see the pain and joy in his eyes with each interaction with his son, and his quiet determination is effectively touching. Julian has a less-colorful part but does a great job of showing how torn Luis becomes--he could get the girl, the "friends", and the reputation if he gave in to the gangs' advances, but what he really is, is a boy who needs and, though he is loathe to admit it, wants, that unavoidably-important male relationship in his life, the one with his father. Their scenes together are sometimes painful-with the son often scorning his old-fashioned, "uncool" father-but their vibrant emotional connection cuts to the heart when it really needs to.

So, do I recommend it?
Yes. Men might get more out of it than women, but that's not a promise, as this is a genuinely-affecting film that almost everyone can relate to in some way. It's not as emotionally-tormenting as, say, The Pursuit of Happyness, but it can be intense. It tells a very human story--this isn't just a movie about immigrants; any kind of father/son pairing could be featured here. Every father will see a bit of themself in Carlos; many probably more than they wish. They will ache for Carlos. A Better Life is quickly-paced, with a number of edge-of-your-seat sequences in its involving plot, and, as far as content, there is some bad language, but nothing too off-putting. Younger viewers may find themselves lost or overwhelmed, though, as the material can be dramatic.

Bottom line (I promise):
A quietly-intense film that might move you to tears, A Better Life is powerful and impressionable.

A Better Life (2011)
Directed by Chris Weitz
Written by Eric Eason and Roger L. Simon
Rated PG-13 for language, some violence, and a few instances of drug use
Length: 98 minutes