Wednesday, September 01, 2021
A Better Life
- Commentary: I've seen snippets of this movie, which is why I decided I not only wanted to see the whole movie, but that I wanted to own it. I'll be watching it, in toto, tonight. In the meantime, I've seen enough of it to wonder why Roger Ebert gave both this movie and the other directed by Chris Weitz to which he compared it, About a Boy, the same number of rating stars, three and a half. Although I enjoy About a Boy and own a copy of it, just from what I've seen of this movie, if I'd seen About a Boy before this movie and given it three and a half stars, I'd be inclined to give this movie four stars.
It's not that I always agree with Roger Ebert. In fact, I whole-heartedly agree with him a little less than a quarter of the time, although I rarely find one of his reviews in which I don't agree with something he's said, and, anyway, I appreciate his insights and the extra movie info he provided in his reviews, which is why I link to a lot of them. His reviews continue to point me toward movies I haven't yet seen but might find interesting. But, I notice, of all the Chris Weitz movies Ebert reviewed (they're listed in the immediately previous link), Ebert gave only one a full four stars: The Golden Compass, a movie I really tried to get into but just couldn't. It was full of razzle dazzle, yes, but the story, to me, was old and tired and leaning so heavily on its artistic presentation that the whole of the movie just kind of crumpled. When considering Ebert's reviews against my own, I always have to remind myself, he gave The Polar Express an enthusiastic four stars both times he saw it (one review was of the IMAX version), whereas I had a dim view of that movie (my write-up of it is linked to the title, further back in this sentence) and, out of two watchings, my mother didn't like it the first time around, although she enjoyed it the second time. Nonetheless, I got rid of it. She never asked to see it again and turned an offered viewing of it down after she'd seen in a second time.
Perhaps I'll feel differently about this movie, A Better Life, after I watch the whole thing. Perhaps I'll even feel the same as Roger Ebert and consider it not-quite-a-four-star-movie. We'll see. Stay tuned.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Demián Bichir Carlos Galindo José Julián Luis Galindo Dolores Heredia Anita Carlos Linares Santiago Eddie "Piolín" Sotelo Himself Joaquín Cosío Blasco Martinez Nancy Lenehan Mrs. Donnely Gabriel Chavarria Ramon
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2011
Directed by Chris Weitz.
Labels: §1, character-study, coming-of-age2, dramaD, father-son-dynamics1, gang-movie, reflective
