A Better Life
Feature Film | Chris Weitz
An immigrant tale that defies expectations.
Best known for such mainstream efforts as About a Boy and Twilight: New Moon, Chris Weitz goes indie with A Better Life, a gritty and unconventional father/son drama. Amidst the violent streets of East L.A., illegal immigrant Carlos Galindo (dark-horse Oscar contender Demián Bichir) works tirelessly off the books as a gardener to provide a better future for his spoiled American-born son, Luis (José Julián), who has virtually no connection to his heritage and is oblivious to the hand-to-mouth reality that surrounds him. But once his truck, the sole means of his livelihood, is stolen, Carlos is forced to bring Luis, who is steadily being drawn into the world of gangs, along with him on a danger-filled hunt for his vehicle. This proves eye-opening to the sheltered Luis, who finally sees the hardscrabble reality of his father and his peers. While A Better Life is slow to start and seems sure to end in abject tragedy, it abruptly changes course and becomes captivating once the truck is hijacked. From there, Bichir transitions from a meek and purposely invisible laborer to a stern, but strong, man on a mission. It's a subtle, but elegant, transition that grounds the film, and makes it memorable.
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