Movies are an amazing medium where you can tell a story via audio and visuals on a larger than life screen. When a movie can deliver that story through emotions rather than plain words and images, you know you’re watching something special. A Better Life did just that. A story about a struggling illegal Mexican immigrant raising his only son as a single parent is told beautifully by director Chris Weitz. While some portions could have been a little better, you can tell that this project was a labor of love and that essence shined through. The story is raw and eye-opening letting you experience the hardships of another world.
A Better Life is the simple story of the American Dream of today. Demián Bichir stars as Carlos Galindo, an East LA gardener who does everything he can to give his son, Luis (José Julián), a life that he never had. Carlos is an exceptionally good and virtuous man stuck in a bad situation. He tries to stay invisible and off the radar of immigration while keeping Luis away from gangs and in school so he can have some sort of future. Luis is a hotheaded teenager who doesn’t understand how hard life is and what his father does for him daily. He’s walking the thin line of gangs and his girlfriend’s cousin is already affiliated with one.
Demián Bichir and José Julián in A Better Life
The movie’s tempo and tone were painfully pitch perfect. It makes you tense and certain moments but keeps it simple to mimic the lifestyle of an immigrant. There’s a part in the movie that gives you an extremely high feeling and then takes you extremely low. They interchangeably use English, Spanish and Spanglish throughout the movie so expect to be reading subtitles. The dialogue is pretty genuine as the characters move around different areas of the city and interact with different types of people. There’s one scene that was just remarkable where Carlos is returning home and looking out the window of the truck passing people of different cultures and religion and noticing how different his life is from theirs. It was very touching and put things into perspective.
Demián Bichir and José Julián in A Better Life
The music contributed a lot to the simple lifestyle of Carlos. Even though he has to deal with so much, he still understands the golden rule of right and wrong and treating people the way he wants to be treated. He is wronged by people but still understands the struggles they’re going through because he has to go through the same struggles himself. He’s proud of where he comes from and what he’s been through and Bichir portrays that perfectly. Luis doesn’t quite understand this but eventually learns through his fathers actions as the movie goes on. A Better Life leaves you with a somewhat sad feeling of the truth because Carlos does give Luis the better life he promised but not the way he wanted. I definitely recommend checking out this movie but you may need to bring some tissues.
Tags: A Better Life, Chris Weitz, Demián Bichir, José Julián
Matthew Fong created advancescreenings.com and is the lead contributor. He watches every type of movie and will try almost anything twice. You can follow him on twitter here: @matthewfong
