A Better Life is a character drama about an illegal immigrant. Just with that sentence you probably have in your head an idea of exactly how the movie is going to plain out, and honestly you probably aren't far off. The film didn't really stray at all from the conventions of it's type, but it's lifted up by the sensational performance of Demian Bichir in the lead role. Bichir's Carlos Galindo is an immigrant gardener who is trying to keep his head down, survive and take care of his fourteen year old son.
The story starts off a little loose, focusing more on it's character and the themes that can face an illegal immigrant in America. There's some subplot with the son being courted by a gang at his school that is pretty poorly done and terribly written, but I think the first act is where the film is working at it's best. It tackles these themes in ways that I found interesting and, on the shoulders of Bichir's great work, emotionally involving.
There's a plot move at the end of the first act that turns the whole thing into something more focused, but in focusing it down this narrative I think the film loses a lot of what it had going for it. Gone are the powerful, socially relevant themes and instead they're replaced with a half-hearted father/son relationship and a typical narrative that attempts to give thrills but mostly comes up empty. It's never a movie that I had a hard time watching and it moves at a pretty brisk pace, but I was disappointed by the conventional route it ended up taking after having so much potential at first.
Still, the whole thing is worth watching for Bichir's internally explosive performance. He really is everything that the few people who have seen this film have claimed him to be; he wears this character like he lived in it his whole life. It's one of those performances that is fused with an authenticity to the point where you forget he's acting and you might not realize just how impressive he is.
Every blink of his eye, every movie of his jaw is in tune with this character and he delivers a subtle, heartbreaking portrayal. You can feel the weight of his burdens pushing down on his back at all times, constantly trying to climb a mountain of obstacles just to see his son grow up strong, healthy and morally just. It's a brilliant performance that improves a disappointingly standard film.
The story starts off a little loose, focusing more on it's character and the themes that can face an illegal immigrant in America. There's some subplot with the son being courted by a gang at his school that is pretty poorly done and terribly written, but I think the first act is where the film is working at it's best. It tackles these themes in ways that I found interesting and, on the shoulders of Bichir's great work, emotionally involving.
There's a plot move at the end of the first act that turns the whole thing into something more focused, but in focusing it down this narrative I think the film loses a lot of what it had going for it. Gone are the powerful, socially relevant themes and instead they're replaced with a half-hearted father/son relationship and a typical narrative that attempts to give thrills but mostly comes up empty. It's never a movie that I had a hard time watching and it moves at a pretty brisk pace, but I was disappointed by the conventional route it ended up taking after having so much potential at first.
Still, the whole thing is worth watching for Bichir's internally explosive performance. He really is everything that the few people who have seen this film have claimed him to be; he wears this character like he lived in it his whole life. It's one of those performances that is fused with an authenticity to the point where you forget he's acting and you might not realize just how impressive he is.
Every blink of his eye, every movie of his jaw is in tune with this character and he delivers a subtle, heartbreaking portrayal. You can feel the weight of his burdens pushing down on his back at all times, constantly trying to climb a mountain of obstacles just to see his son grow up strong, healthy and morally just. It's a brilliant performance that improves a disappointingly standard film.