Movies.ie

Movies

A Better Life

Release Date 29 Jul 2011 TBA

  • User rating
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.
  • Critic rating
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.

  55% of raters want to see this movie

Certificate: 12A

Genre: Drama

Determined to give his estranged teenage son a better future, Carlos Riquelme, an illegal immigrant, buys a used truck and gardening equipment to start a business. However, when the truck is stolen, he and his son work together to recover it, reconnecting for the first time in years.

Cast:
Demian Bichir | Jose Julian | Dolores Heredia | Joaquin Cosio | Carlos Linares

Writers:
Eric Eason

Producers:

Directors:
Chris Weitz

  • Critic rating
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.

Movies.ie Critic Review

LA, and illegal immigrant Carlos (Bichir) is struggling to make ends meet, scraping by as a gardener, whilst his teenage son, Luis (Julian), has begun hanging out with the wrong crowd. Convinced by his regular employer Blasco (Cosio) to buy his truck, Carlos branches out on his own. But life quickly takes a turn for the worst…

THE VERDICT: Living below the radar in America can be demoralising, dull and dangerous, and, when you’re dealing with a good guy like Carlos, heartbreaking. Director Chris Weitz takes a distinctly left turn after About A Boy and New Moon for this muted, underplayed tale of hard times in East LA for a Mexican immigrant, and he’s helped enormously in his quest by a towering central performance from Demian Bichir. Towering because Bichir keeps all the pain, the hurt, the frustration and disappointment bottled up inside.

Review by Paul Byrne 

  • Avg User rating
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.

User Reviews

    • Currently 4/5 Stars.

    Onionhead

    A Better Life is a complete recipe of amazing film-making, great storyline, and outstanding performances. It is not trying to be predictable or unpredictable, it knocks the audiences into life's difficulties by evoking aspects within our society

    • Currently 4/5 Stars.

    ArrggghhhhJOHN

    I went in knowing nothing about this movie but really enjoyed it. The plot is a bit thin in that it could have been an hour long t.v. movie but non the less very enjoyable

    • Currently 3/5 Stars.

    mart

    The people here seem real, their world is shaky at best, and the political tension that permeates everything in this film feels palpable