a better life movie review

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Carlos is an undocumented Mexican immigrant who works as a gardener tending the lawns of Los Angeles residents who are rich, especially from his point of view. He lives from hand to mouth and day to day in a tiny house whose garden is used to raise starter plants for his clients. His wife left some years ago, and he raises his 15-year-old son, Luis, by himself.

In "A Better Life," these two men are being pulled apart by life in America. Carlos ( Demian Bichir ) keeps a low profile, works hard, holds traditional values. Luis ( Jose Julian ) hasn't joined a gang in his neighborhood yet, but that would seem to be his trajectory. He misses school, he quietly considers his dad an irrelevant loser, and when he asks for money and there isn't any, he knows how to get under his father's skin: "I'll jack a little old lady."

Carlos works for Blasco ( Joaquin Cosio ), who owns a landscaping truck and the business that goes with it. Now Blasco has enough money to return to Mexico and his own little farm, and offers to sell Carlos his truck, tools, client list — everything. But Carlos can't get a driver's license, and a police stop would mean deportation. His sister reluctantly lends him some money, and the next day the truck is stolen. He thinks he might be able to find the man who took it and enlists his son to help him search in likely places.

Now the story takes on some of the shape of " The Bicycle Thief ," the 1948 Italian neo-realist classic by Vittorio de Sica. Father and son depend on the stolen truck for their existence. And in a low key, observant way, "A Better Life" provides a tour of Los Angeles during the search; not the L.A. of Sunset Boulevard or Rodeo Drive, but the L.A. of restaurants where the kitchen staff is undocumented, of Mexican rodeos, of gang territory, of marginal workers who are essential to the city's economy.

The film's trajectory is rather predictable, but then so was the story told by "The Bicycle Thief." But the performances are pitch perfect, even including Gabriel Chavarria as Ramon, the man who steals the truck. It adds an important element to the film that he embodies a desperate man, not a bad one. When Carlos acts at a crucial moment, he is recognizing that.

The film was directed by Chris Weitz . Ring a bell? His previous film was " The Twilight Saga: New Moon ." Why do I imagine he was happier making this film than that one? You need to possess considerable talent to become a successful director, and his credits also include " About a Boy " (2002), where the boy is the one teaching life lessons to the man. In a perfect world, I imagine Weitz would rather make films like "A Better Life" than "Twilight 2." Of course, that's only a guess.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film credits.

A Better Life (2011)

Rated PG-13 for some violence, lan­guage and brief drug use

Gabriel Chavarria as Ramon

Demian Bichir as Carlos Galindo

Jose Julian as Luis Galindo

Joaquin Cosio as Blasco

Delores Heredia as Anita

Directed by

• Chris Weitz

From a story by

• Roger L. Simon

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Poignant Struggle For 'Life' Among Illegal Immigrants

Jeannette Catsoulis

It Gets Better: Luis (José Julián, left) and his father Carlos (Demián Bichir) have a contentious relationship, as the son flirts with street gangs while his dad works long hours as an undocumented laborer. The film depicts their story with only the occasional lapse into heavy-handedness. Merrick Morton/Summit Entertainment hide caption

A Better Life

• Director: Chris Weitz
• Genre: Drama
• Running Time: 98 minutes

Rated PG-13 for some violence, language and brief drug use

With: Demián Bichir, José Julián, Eddie 'Piolin' Sotelo, Joaquín Cosio

Watch Clips

'I Need Some Money'

Credit: Summit Entertainment

'I Didn't Know'

Making a virtue of simplicity and a vice of melodrama, A Better Life is a well-intentioned stab at something we rarely see in American movie theaters: the low-income family drama. This is a genre in which work — exhausting, repetitive, unreliable — is the story's engine and the characters' sole means of survival. For the characters in these films, holding on to a job or finding a better one takes precedence over anything life can throw at them.

For Carlos (Demián Bichir), an undocumented Mexican day laborer who arrived in Los Angeles six years earlier, work is all-consuming. Rising at dawn in his ramshackle South Central rental, he spends long days tending to the well-fed lawns of the affluent, barely seeing his 14-year-old son, Luis (José Julián). Uncommunicative and a little hotheaded, Luis is teetering on the brink of expulsion from school and initiation into a local gang with family ties to his feisty girlfriend (Chelsea Rendon), but it's clear he's more a thoughtful loner than a mindless joiner.

When, in the course of a single day, Carlos achieves his dream of self-employment, only to have it cruelly snatched away, the film transforms into an odyssey of familial healing and a sharp lesson on the realities of living without papers. As Carlos and Luis search for the man who has wronged them, director Chris Weitz (whose family is mostly Hispanic and whose grandmother was the Mexican actress Lupita Tovar) takes us on a tour of locations most Angelenos never see: An immigrant doss house, a Mexican rodeo at Pico Rivera Stadium, a steamy kitchen filled with undocumented scullery staff. Dragging into the light those who prefer to exist in shadows, Weitz forces us to confront a world where every stranger is a threat, every cop an enemy, and crime must be handled without official help.

Sensitively written by Eric Eason (from a story by Roger L. Simon), A Better Life is a far cry from the director's big-studio footprints ( The Twilight Saga: New Moon and The Golden Compass ), but the more personal scale suits him. Turning LA into a bifurcated city — on one side, manicured yards and jogging suburbanites, on the other noisy cantinas and loitering gangbangers — Javier Aguirresarobe's photography draws texture from the street life that boils in the background of the frame. Adopting a uniformly downbeat tone, Weitz observes without comment, resisting the impulse to dramatize the snatches of political protest or the desperate men scrambling on corners for a day's work. Like most of the city's residents, the film simply glances and moves on.

The entire film is told through the perspective of illegal immigrants like Santiago (Carlos Linares, left) and Carlos (Bichir). Director Chris Weitz tours locations even most Angelenos never see. Merrick Morton/Summit Entertainment hide caption

The entire film is told through the perspective of illegal immigrants like Santiago (Carlos Linares, left) and Carlos (Bichir). Director Chris Weitz tours locations even most Angelenos never see.

Unfolding exclusively from the perspective of illegal immigrants, A Better Life is a dignified, decent film. Neither hopeful nor hopeless, the story is about embracing heritage while striving for more, all the while trying not to step on the neck of your brother. And despite glaring similarities to Italian neo-realist classic Bicycle Thieves and the occasional lapse into triteness — like the soaring music that accompanies Carlos as he scales a palm tree and gazes in aspirational awe at the beauty around him — the film counters soapiness with lead performances of remarkable depth and synchronicity.

Equally pleasing is Weitz's refusal to highlight the integrity of his hero by painting the film's gang members as de facto monsters. Instead, he stages his warmest, most delightful scene in the cozy home of Luis's girlfriend, where two tiny prima donnas sing for their tattooed relatives. It's easy to see why, to a lonely boy, this family feels more real than his own.

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A better life, common sense media reviewers.

Eye-opening social drama about immigration and family.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Amid the movie's often harsh realities is an i

Carlos, despite all the problems flung his way, is

References to gang activity, including beat downs.

A teenage couple flirts and kisses.

Swearing isn't constant but includes words suc

Some signage visible, including Tecate.

Brief drug use, and teens are shown drinking beer.

Parents need to know that this enlightening, sometimes heartbreaking drama about the illegal immigrant experience pulls no punches in its portrayal of a hardscrabble life, addressing the challenges that the undocumented face without lecturing -- or pandering. Expect the occasional barrage of swearing (including &quot…

Positive Messages

Amid the movie's often harsh realities is an inspiring message: Hope springs eternal, and that's a good thing. You can't let life, no matter how difficult, harden you.

Positive Role Models

Carlos, despite all the problems flung his way, is honest and principled. He can even find compassion for the man who wronged him. And though his son at first seems attracted to a life of thuggery, in the end, it's family -- specifically, his father -- that's most important and most influential. His aunt, too, supports his father.

Violence & Scariness

References to gang activity, including beat downs. Teenagers tussle and chase after a classmate in an attempt to get even for his extortionist ways. Guns are fired; threats are hurled. A man attempts to wrestle a thief, whom his son then starts to hit ferociously.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Swearing isn't constant but includes words such as "f--k," "s--t," "a--," "bitch," "damn," and "hell."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Drinking, drugs & smoking.

Brief drug use, and teens are shown drinking beer. Some additional social drinking.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this enlightening, sometimes heartbreaking drama about the illegal immigrant experience pulls no punches in its portrayal of a hardscrabble life, addressing the challenges that the undocumented face without lecturing -- or pandering. Expect the occasional barrage of swearing (including "f--k" and "s--t"), some teen drinking, and a frank look at the lure of gang life in the city. Guns are used, and there are some fights. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (3)
• Kids say (1)

Based on 3 parent reviews

Educational movie for kids and teens.

A better movie, what's the story.

He may be a day laborer, but Carlos ( Demian Bichir ) has big dreams for himself and his son. So when a colleague offers Carlos the opportunity to buy his truck and the gardening clients he has collected through the years, Carlos feels the pull of hope. With his sister's help, Carlos makes the investment, dangling the news to his wayward teenage son, Luis ( Jose Julian ), like keys to a better life. He worries for Luis, whose gang-banging friends are luring him down a dangerous path. But when the truck is stolen, Carlos and his son decide they won't sit by and stay victims. They'll get it back -- at whatever cost.

Is It Any Good?

When a movie is able to bring to life a politically loaded issue without being suffused with cliches and rhetoric, it's a miracle. That's exactly what A BETTER LIFE accomplishes; it's a nuanced, sensitive, moving examination of the illegal immigrant experience in modern America. It's a well-crafted movie -- taut when called for, pensive when necessary. It zigzags fluidly between social commentary and family drama, never tipping each side too heavily so as to achieve a delicate balance.

And at its core are two great actors, Bichir and Julian, who manage to make the script come to life with authenticity and empathy. Luis' struggles as a teenager trying to live boldly yet conscientiously could have used some fine-tuning -- some sections seem like shorthand -- but this quibble won't weaken a strong film deserving of an audience.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how the movie portrays undocumented workers and their families. Is it objective, or are viewers meant to take away a specific message? Would you consider that message political?

What is the film's take on the immigration debate? Do you agree? Why or why not?

How does the media typically depict father-son relationships? How does this movie compare?

Movie Details

• In theaters : June 24, 2011
• On DVD or streaming : October 18, 2011
• Cast : Demian Bichir , Jose Julian
• Director : Chris Weitz
• Inclusion Information : Latino actors, Middle Eastern/North African actors
• Studio : Summit Entertainment
• Genre : Drama
• Run time : 98 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : some violence, language and brief drug use
• Last updated : July 7, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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A Better Life Reviews

This is the sort of tepid tragedy, all sentiment and no cojones, that one could previously malign as a TV movie, as it attempts to say nothing new about the issues at hand.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | May 7, 2024

It’s hard not to get wrapped up in the lives of these two people even if we pretty much know how everything is going to end.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 19, 2022

The film takes a great turn in a very simple scene that manages to wrench out both high hope and deep tension all within the context of yard work.

Full Review | Mar 24, 2021

Demian Bichir gives one of the year's finest leading performances.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4.0 | Sep 2, 2020

A week and a half later, I still haven't stopped thinking about it. It is the summer, anti-blockbuster movie I am recommending to everyone.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Jan 14, 2020

The stakes are high in A Better Life and Bichir matches the film's tormented tone with a portrayal of a man overcome by both fear and faith.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Jan 26, 2018

...Weitz finds a third character in the form of the L.A. landscape. Appearing entirely Eden-like when we're in the gardens with Carlos, but rundown and seedy when he's in his own element, the city assumes all the dimensions of the American dream itself.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 10, 2017

The film's beautiful simplicity is carried massively on the work of Demin Bichir, instantly and surely one of the best performances seen in 2011.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 14, 2014

Well-acted, but quite over-hyped -- a melodramatic Mexican-American version of "Bicycle Thieves."

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jan 4, 2013

A Better Life is a half-step removed from the Hallmark Hall of Fame.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Aug 26, 2012

A Better Life's sense of place and eye for detail are strong, but the too-smooth style and rushed dramatics are at odds with the hardscrabble existence on display.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Aug 17, 2012

[A] gentle, honest, heartfelt film, but [it] does not have much to offer beyond an earnest respect for a segment of American society that is too often derided...

Full Review | Feb 22, 2012

The silver lining is an excellent lead performance from Bichir.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jan 26, 2012

A well deserved Oscar nomination for Demian Bichir in a film with echoes of The Bicycle Thief.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 25, 2012

Each sequence plays out in mind-numbingly cliched fashion: father-son lectures, chin-up resilience-especially the final shot-and a stern message about the heartless anti-immigration movement are depicted in an infuriatingly shallow manner.

Full Review | Original Score: 32/100 | Dec 30, 2011

Director Chris Weitz has done a credible job of bringing Roger Simon's story and Eric Eason's screenplay to cinematic life.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Dec 24, 2011

it's far too predictable and mundane to carry my interest through the rest of the film

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Nov 13, 2011

Although the structure of the film is conventional, the ending of the film is not. Unlike most films, it does have a real hero, Carlos.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Nov 4, 2011

A sympathetic tale about an illegal Mexican.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Oct 31, 2011

Essentially a variation on Vittorio De Sica's The Bicycle Thief, but it has a vitality and resonance all its own.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Aug 26, 2011

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A Better Life Movie Review

Dramas about illegal immigrants have often focused on the journey north — an odyssey pocked with exploitation and fear, but one that generally ends on a note of road-weary triumph. In A Better Life , however, the focus is on the plight of undocumented immigrants who are already ensconced in the United States. Carlos (Demián Bichir), an unassuming gardener, came up from Mexico years ago and made a home in Los Angeles, but to call anything about his existence ”settled” would be an exaggeration. His wife, frustrated by his modest ambitions, left him long ago, and the son he’s raised on his own, Luis (José Julián), is a sullen teenager increasingly drawn to the tattooed allure of gang life. Carlos must keep his head down, literally and emotionally, but anyone who looks at him and sees a meek, pleading, recessive man isn’t reading between the lines of Demián Bichir’s superb slow simmer of a performance. His Carlos is a silent striver who, like the heroes of The Bicycle Thief and Man Push Cart , embodies a humanity that is ultimately heartbreaking.

It’s no cheap irony when Carlos’ attempt to improve his and his son’s lot leads him down a rabbit hole of misfortune. He agrees to take over a colleague’s gardening business (chief asset: a truck), but being an owner turns out to be a lot more treacherous than being an anonymous day worker. When the truck is stolen, Carlos claws and schemes to get it back. The struggle draws him closer to his son, but risks bringing his undocumented status to the attention of the law. A Better Life was directed by the eclectic Chris Weitz ( The Twilight Saga: New Moon , About a Boy ), who weaves the torpor and anxiety of immigrant life into something dramatically true, if at moments a bit draggy. By the time Carlos confronts a choice he prayed he’d never have to make, the film has put a face on lives we too often feel free to judge without knowing. B+

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An undocumented worker seeks “ A Better Life ” for himself and his troubled teenage son, only to find that good intentions have a way of going awry. That’s also the moral inadvertently offered up by director Chris Weitz’s problematic new picture, which, despite Demian Bichir’s affecting lead performance and a strong feel for Los Angeles’ Mexican-American communities, emerges an earnest and overly programmatic heart-tugger. Still, assuming the pic’s topicality, accessibility and specific appeal to Hispanic audiences result in good specialty returns, Summit could push this hard-luck immigrant fable further into the mainstream spotlight than usual for low-budget, minority-focused fare.

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A Mexican-born, L.A.-based gardener who crossed the border illegally years ago, single dad Carlos Galindo (Bichir) works hard as a day laborer, taking odd jobs for affluent Angelenos whose well-tended homes and lawns provide a taste of the ever-elusive American dream. His struggles to make ends meet go mostly unappreciated by his son, Luis (Jose Julian), a sullen, distant kid susceptible to gang influences at school.

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Their situation seems to improve when Carlos’ sister (Delores Heredia) lends him the money to buy a truck off his friend (Joaquin Cosio), allowing Carlos to work as an independent contractor. But in one of the film’s crueler, tougher-minded developments, the truck is soon stolen, shattering Carlos’ dreams of a new livelihood and leaving him with a debt he has no way of repaying.

From here, the film becomes a detective story of sorts with a clear debt to “Bicycle Thieves,” as Carlos, unable to go to the police, searches for the truck with a suddenly helpful Luis. Their journey takes them all over the city, from a cramped South Central apartment to a Mexican rodeo at Pico Rivera Sports Arena to a kitchen where day laborers wash dishes by night. Naturally, father and son bond along the way, despite their polar-opposite worldviews: Trusting, compassionate Carlos sees the good in every soul they encounter, while shrewd, cynical Luis at times reveals a violent streak especially alarming for a kid his age.

After “The Golden Compass” and “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” it must have been a relief for Weitz to scale back with a slice of character-driven, socially conscious filmmaking that favors humanism over politics. While the result bears little resemblance to those recent big-budget fantasies or the earlier studio comedies Weitz directed with his brother Paul (“About a Boy,” “Down to Earth”), the studio polish that has informed the helmer’s past work also persists here, smoothing over the rough edges and ambiguities that would have given the film the realist texture it’s clearly aiming for.

Much of that texture was present in Eason’s assured 2002 writing-directing debut, “Manito,” another tale of a fractured Latino family trying to make it in urban America; his scenario here feels more diagrammed and on-the-nose in its handling of plot and characterization, and the central relationship, while engaging enough, never fully earns its final assault on the viewer’s tear ducts. Tension-milking scenes in which Luis feels pressured to join his crime-inclined friends (Bobby Soto, Chelsea Rendon) are especially unpersuasive in their attempts at ghetto realism.

Bichir is effortlessly sympathetic as a man who, whatever his legal status, is clearly a model citizen and a loving father, yet the veteran thesp finally feels as shackled by his nobly downbeat trajectory as Carlos is by his circumstances. Julian has a more difficult time with a flintier role, though it’s to the younger thesp’s credit that he doesn’t bother making Luis especially likable.

Sets, costumes and well-chosen locations furnish evocative views of a Los Angeles rarely seen in mainstream cinema, and early glimpses of Carlos’ routine, waiting in line with other laborers or grabbing a quick meal from a taco truck, are a nice touch. A soundtrack pulsing with Latin-inflected hip-hop (with an original Ozomatli song played over the closing credits) balances out a somewhat incongruous musical score.

• Production: A Summit Entertainment release presented in association with Lime Orchard Prods. of a Witt Thomas/Depth of Field production in association with McLaughlin Films. Produced by Paul Junger Witt, Christian McLaughlin, Chris Weitz, Jami Gertz, Stacey Lubliner. Executive producer, Tony Thomas. Co-producer, Laura Greenlee. Directed by Chris Weitz. Screenplay, Eric Eason; story, Roger L. Simon.
• Crew: Camera (Deluxe color prints), Javier Aguirresarobe; editor, Peter Lambert; music, Alexandre Desplat; music supervisor, Alexandra Patsavas; production designer, Melissa Stewart; art director, Christopher Tandon; set designer, Caroline Quinn Decker; set decorator, Bryan John Venegas; costume designer, Elaine Montalvo; sound (Dolby Digital/DTS), Yehuda Maayan; supervising sound editor, Scott Hecker; re-recording mixers, Chris David, Gabriel J. Serrano; special effects coordinator, Charlie Belardinelli; visual effects supervisor, Dottie Starling; visual effects, Wildfire Visual Effects; stunt coordinator, Trampas Thompson; assistant director, Ricardo Mendez Matta; casting, Joseph Middleton, Carla Hool. Reviewed at Wilshire screening room, Beverly Hills, April 20, 2011. (In Los Angeles Film Festival -- Gala Screenings.) MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 98 MIN.
• With: Carlos Galindo - Demian Bichir Luis Galindo - Jose Julian Anita - Delores Heredia Blasco Martinez - Joaquin Cosio Mrs. Donnelley - Nancy Lenehan Juvie Officer - Tim Griffin With: Bobby Soto, Chelsea Rendon, Carlos Linares. (English, Spanish dialogue)

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A Better Life: movie review

‘A Better life’ puts a human face on the struggle of illegal immigrants with the story of a Mexican father trying to raise his wayward son.

• By Peter Rainer Film critic

June 24, 2011

With all the heated and sometimes hateful controversy surrounding the issue of illegal immigration in the United States , it’s depressingly easy to lose sight of the fact that illegal aliens are people, not statistics. They are both omnipresent and, especially if one chooses not to look, invisible, and no more so than in southern California , the setting for Chris Weitz ’s “A Better Life,” about a single father who exists under the radar and dreams the American dream.

Very few American 
movies have dealt with the experience of illegals – “El Norte” (the best of them), “The Border,” and “The Visitor” are probably the best known. As a result, much of “A Better Life” has a built-in fascination that carries us through its rough spots. With a modicum of melodrama, it focuses on a world that is relatively new to movies. Several scenes set in the barrios of East Los Angeles , or at a visiting Mexican rodeo, have an admirable, semidocumentary realism. Eric Eason ’s script is sometimes unduly contrived and derivative, but we are always aware that something larger is being played out.

Carlos ( Demián Bichir ), who works as a gardener’s helper, lives with his 14-year-old son Luis ( José Julián ) in a rundown apartment in East L.A. He sleeps on the couch so that Luis can have a comfortable bed and be fresh for school, even though Luis, a good student when he wants to be, often skips classes to hang out with his other truant friends.

When Blasco (the wonderful Joaquín Cosio ), who owns the lawn business, decides to go back to Mexico , he offers to sell Carlos his truck and equipment. Since Carlos has no driver’s license – and because a routine traffic violation could result in deportation for him – he is reluctant at first. Eventually he takes up his sister’s generous offer of a loan and buys the truck. A new world opens up to him, until, on his first day – well, if you’ve ever seen the great De Sica neorealist masterpiece “Bicycle Thieves,” you’ll have no trouble figuring out what comes next.

The resemblance to De Sica’s film is a bit closer than an homage, if something less than a rip-off. Still, it’s a functional story device, even though the movie we keep being reminded of is one of the greatest ever made, while “A Better Life” is just solidly OK. As Carlos and Luis comb the barrio and South Central L.A. in search of the stolen truck, they slowly bond. Or rather, Luis bonds with his father. Carlos’s love for his son is never in doubt. His prime motivation for buying the truck and risking 
everything was simple: He wants to move his son into a better neighborhood and away from the gangs the boy has so far tenuously resisted.

The film captures the ways in which Luis, who is Americanized, rejects his father’s old-school ways. This rejection would probably have happened even without the complication of illegal immigration; it’s a staple of generational and adolescent conflict. But because Bichir is such a quietly forceful presence, Carlos is continually favored by the camera in his encounters with Luis, who displays a violent streak that the film never comes to terms with. The father-son emotional trajectory is too easily plotted – we can see where things are headed early on – and yet it still hits home.

I wish “A Better Life” had moved further away from its comfort zone. If Carlos wasn’t so reliably salt of the earth, if Luis had shown himself to be more explosively disturbed, the film would have resembled less a recruitment poster for tolerance. But there are sequences here, like the ones involving men massing for work on street corners, or working the night shift washing dishes, that highlight a closed-off society too often neglected in the movies – not to mention in real life. Grade: B (Rated PG-13 for some violence, language, and brief drug use.)

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Movie Review: ‘A Better Life’

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Director Chris Weitz’s new drama, “A Better Life,” should be a much better movie than it is, but emotions get in the way. It’s a quintessential L.A. story of a hard-pressed illegal immigrant family — in this case a father and son — living with the constant fear of deportation. Rather than being compelling, though, the film is weighted down by clichés. A pity, since the issues could hardly be more timely.

Weitz, working from a screenplay by Eric Eason (“Manito”), wears his heart on his sleeve in every scene. That tack has sometimes worked in the filmmaker’s favor, as it did in 2002’s surprisingly affecting “About a Boy,” directed with his brother Paul. But where “About a Boy” invited us along for the emotional journey between a fatherless boy and Hugh Grant’s rootless, rich layabout, in “A Better Life,” we’re left on the outside looking in.

The film is set in the present day and told in a near even mix of Spanish and English that wavers between feeling natural and merely biculturally politically correct. The story is a familiar one: Carlos (Demián Bichir) crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally years ago and has spent a lifetime working as an off-the-books gardener. His son Luis (José Julián) was born here, and in addition to U.S. citizenship, he has all the sullenness of a typical American teenager. Mom bailed years ago, so it’s just the two of them left to deal with adolescence, a pervasive gang culture and Carlos’ fear of discovery.

The action turns on the ways in which ordinary problems become extraordinary for those here illegally, upending the families of the undocumented; in the worst cases, deportation tearing them apart. For Carlos, disaster comes just as he buys into the American dream — a truck, a client list and a complement of gardening tools that will enable him to run his own business. Within a day, the truck is gone and Carlos and Luis will spend the rest of the movie dealing with the massive blowback of that one event.

Much of the movie rides on the back of Bichir, who co-starred in Steven Soderbergh’s “Che”; he has countless excellent performances as well in Mexico, where he is part of a legendary acting family. He’s got a soulful look that brings Carlos to life here and there, but it’s a struggle. And you can sense it.

The film’s pacing — with the camera lingering a few seconds too long in virtually every scene — is maddening, leaching away tension and real emotion at every turn. Even the look of the film is flat. Cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe’s (“Secrets of the Heart”) lens keeps L.A.’s ghettos, barrios and its beach-front mansions at a distance, strung together like disparate elements rather than a web of intersecting social classes in a complex world. In its place, the filmmakers serve up a vacuous space filled with stereotypes and cliches — overly earnest and in your face. If only they’d scratched beneath the surface, they might have created a better “Life.”

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Former Los Angeles Times film critic Betsy Sharkey is an award-winning entertainment journalist and bestselling author. She left the newsroom in 2015. In addition to her critical essays and reviews of about 200 films a year for The Times, Sharkey’s weekly movie reviews appeared in newspapers nationally and internationally. Her books include collaborations with Oscar-winning actresses Faye Dunaway on “Looking for Gatsby” and Marlee Matlin on “I’ll Scream Later.” Sharkey holds a degree in journalism and a master’s in communications theory from Texas Christian University.

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A Better Life – review

C hris Weitz is nothing if not eclectic. Having worked alone or in collaboration with his brother, Paul, on the envelope-pushing American Pie , screen versions of Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass and Nick Hornby's About a Boy and one of the overwrought Twilight teen-vampire films, he's now made what is in effect a transposition to California of the 1948 neorealist masterpiece Bicycle Thieves , the work of another highly eclectic moviemaker, Vittorio De Sica.

The oppressed hero is now an illegal immigrant from Mexico (played by leading Mexican actor Demián Bichir) and the bike has become a pick-up truck, an essential tool for his job as a gardener in Los Angeles. The thief is again a pathetic figure in as desperate a position as the hero. The son, however, is no longer an adoring little boy but a surly teenager estranged from his father. In many ways, the protagonist's situation is worse here than in the Italian original, because any false move could put him in the hands of the immigration department, with the almost certain prospect of deportation. It's a small, convincing, tightly constructed movie about an urgent, seemingly insoluble problem.

• Demián Bichir
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What it's about.

Demian Bichir was nominated for an Oscar for his role in this movie where he plays an illegal immigrant and father. You might be wondering "who is that?", but trust me you won't after watching this movie. The kindness, complexity, and authenticity he brings to this story are unparalleled.

A Better Life is about the illegal immigrant experience, about the line between the fear of being caught and the aspiration for a better future. It's an excellent and important movie. 

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A Better Life Review

29 Jul 2011

A Better Life

Directing his first film since vampfest New Moon, Chris Weitz grapples with a less contrived type of outcast: California’s illegal immigrants. Refreshingly employing Spanish-speaking actors and ample Spanish dialogue, Weitz tracks the relentless toil of a Mexican gardener (Demián Bichir) desperate to escape East LA before it’s too late for his wayward son (José Julián). Bichir plays the despondent grafter tremendously, the lines on his weathered face deepening as the camera pans the opulent LA sidewalks from his beaten truck. But the film’s Cat Stevens-sized core of misunderstanding between father and son seems hurriedly resolved when the truck is stolen and the two bond by taking the law into their own hands.

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REVIEW | “A Better Life” Is a Strong Immigration Story, But Not Quite Strong Enough

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There are moments in Chris Weitz’s immigration drama that transcend the familiarity of the material, and others that play directly into it. In the swift, wordless opening sequence, the director reveals the life of sullen middle-aged gardener Carlos (Demián Bichir) living out his days as an impoverished illegal immigrant in Los Angeles. The credit sequence encapsulates an entire 12-hour period in Carlos’ life, from waking up on his living room couch to toiling away in the heat and then back to his claustrophobic abode as dusk sets in.

Later, he endures the frustrating task of soliciting Americans for work on the side of the road, finding respite when a fellow Mexican lifts his spirits. Again, actions speak louder than words, as Weisz turns up the soundtrack and simply shows the two men brighten up. These are smartly observed snapshots of humanity.

However, when the stakes in Carlos’ life keep going up, and his hopes for improving conditions for himself and his estranged teenage son Luis (José Julián) start to fade, “A Better Life” loses its pull. The story teeters on the edge between bearable family drama and unimaginative sensationalism before eventually jumping off the cliff into a bucket of tears. It’s an unfortunate plunge that happens with ease. Weitz flirts with greatness but unfortunately misses the opportunity to make the material soar. And yet he comes close.

Fresh from the erratic blockbuster experiences of directing “The Golden Compass” and the second “Twilight” movie, Weitz has chosen material that requires no expensive trickery or even star power to get its point across. That sort of retreat is always interesting to watch, and in this case it begs for attention. “A Better Life” indulges in a steady amount of understatement whereas neither “The Golden Compass” or “Twilight: New Moon” had any. More significantly, “A Better Life” blatantly retreats from the uglier aspects of commercial allure by assuming a uniformly immigrant perspective. Unlike Tom McCarthy’s “The Visitor,” Weisz’s project provides no basic focal point for broader audiences through the appearance of a white character plagued by white person guilt. (“The Visitor” has plenty of virtues, but the way its immigrant couple are seen through the eyes of an old, vanilla professorial type couldn’t have hurt its popularity.)

Despite the distinctive arrangement of characters, however, “A Better Life” delves into a conventional scenario from the very beginning. Growing up in a single parent household (his parents divorced years ago), Luis routinely finds himself in trouble in school and sports a moody persona that threatens to bring him into gang life. His dad just wants to do honest work and improve the quality of their existence. He tries to be a stern father figure. “You wanna end up like me?” he asks Luis, who just rolls his eyes. Even though they butt heads, Carlos and Luis harbor a mutual trust that makes their opportunity to bond inevitable. When Carlos runs into problems with a local thief, father and son join forces to set things right. Even this rudimentary progression works due to the chemistry between the actors and particularly Bichir (Fidel Castro in Steven Soderbergh’s “Che”) in a sharply focused performance.

Without a doubt, “A Better Life” forms Weisz’s most assured, adult work (his other credits include “About a Boy” and “Down to Earth,” both co-directed with brother Paul). Nevertheless, it owes a lot of its initial momentum to Eric Eason’s unhurried screenplay, which builds toward a daring climax that brings Carlos and Luis closer together while putting joint in jeopardy.

But after a discerning opener, “A Better Life” falters by concluding with a sigh. Carlos delivers a weepy monologue about family bonds and personal yearning, an unfortunate departure from the restraint in the earlier scenes. Carlos’ meeting with a statstics-touting immigration officer wanders into unnecessarily didactic turf. It’s a frustrating misstep that the filmmaker chooses to tell instead of show the drama, when he has already demonstrated an understanding of the classic dictum that just showing can speak volumes.

HOW WILL IT PLAY? In the capable hands of distributor Summit Entertainment, “A Better Life” is poised to land solid reviews and enough niche appeal to do some decent business in limited release, but it’s too slight to gain much momentum beyond that.

criticWIRE grade: B-

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A Better Life

Academy award-nominated mexican actor demián bichir plays the role of an undocumented father.

Think of the powerful and moving film A Better Life , opening June 24, as a Bicycle Thieves for the 21st century.

In the 1948 Italian neo-realist classic Bicycle Thieves , a thief steals a poor workingman’s bicycle, essential to his job posting Rita Hayworth signs around town. As the man and his son set off to track down his only means of transportation, the film becomes a tragic meditation on poverty and the desperation of people at the margins of society.

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In A Better Life , the protagonist is an undocumented Mexican gardener in Los Angeles, Carlos Galindo (played with magnificent dignified understatement by Demián Bichir), whose truck is stolen. Unable to report the theft to the police (they might discover his immigration status and deport him), Galindo sets off through the mean streets of East L.A. to find the key to his livelihood.

“[Undocumented workers] are in the United States to make their lives better and happier,” says Bichir, a major star in his native Mexico, who has also appeared in the movie Che and the TV series Weeds . “These people are proud of the country they are living in.”

But this hardworking gardener has problems that go beyond the vehicular. He’s a single parent (his wife has walked out on him) with a teenage son, Luis (newcomer José Julián), who is attracted to the gangbanger world and has little respect for the down and dirty work papi is doing to make a better life for his child.

Generational conflicts are nothing new. Yet director Chris Weitz’s film refuses to wallow in sentimentality or cliché. Instead, he paints a sobering portrait of one divided family that makes for a short course on the immigration debate. Galindo has been in the United States for years, but because he snuck into the country, he is caught in a jurisdictional shadow world. He is honest, dedicated, industrious — and illegal. But Galindo’s son was born here, making him a U.S. citizen. So the boy, with no ties to his father’s homeland, cannot fathom his dad’s up-by-the-bootstraps immigrant mentality.

How all this works out onscreen is what makes the film something special. In a heartbreaking scene, he explains to Luis the fatherly love that, for years before he bought the vehicle, drove him to get up every morning and stand on street corners hoping for a low-wage work as a day laborer. If he’s sent back to “the other side,” what will happen to his child? By the end of A Better Life , that question is resolved, but it’s not a resolution that guarantees closure. And that, after all, may be the film’s greatest success. By giving a human face to a contentious dialogue, it forces us to ask ourselves questions about compassion and empathy for society’s underdogs. Is Carlos Galindo unworthy of our respect? Or is he the kind of person whose hard work makes the United States stronger? It’s not hard to figure out what side of the issue this haunting and beautiful film comes down on.

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A BETTER LIFE

"heartfelt family drama".

What You Need To Know:

A BETTER LIFE is a riveting, heartfelt family drama with positive Christian references. The good news is that the story shows the son deciding not to get involved with gang life and help his father. Though A BETTER LIFE is not overtly political, it shows how isolated illegal aliens can be. Thus, impressionable viewers may come away taking a more left-wing stance on the issue. Ultimately, however, the bigger problem is the number of excessive obscenities and profanities in A BETTER LIFE.

HEADLINE: ** Heartfelt Family Drama **

Title: A BETTER LIFE

Quality: * * * * Acceptability: -2

SUBTITLES: Partly in Spanish with English subtitles

WARNING CODES:

Language: LLL

Violence: V

RATING: PG-13

RELEASE: June 24, 2011

TIME: 98 minutes

STARRING: Demian Bichir, José Julián, Dolores Hereida, Joaquín Cosío, Carlos Linares

DIRECTOR: Chris Weitz

PRODUCERS: Paul Junger Witt, Christian McLaughlin, Chris Weitz, Jami Gertz, Stacey Lubliner

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Tony Thomas

WRITERS: Eric Eason

BASED ON THE NOVEL/PLAY BY: N/A

DISTRIBUTOR: Summit Entertainment

CONTENT: (CC, B, PC, FR, LLL, V, N, AA, DD, MM) Strong Christian worldview with moral elements in the tale of a struggling illegal alien Catholic gardener who tries to make a better life for his teenage son by buying a truck and opening his own business, with tragic results, marred slightly by politically correct tone siding with the protagonist’s status as an illegal alien breaking several laws and protagonist has to rely on bending the rules and evading the legal system in order to survive, leading to an antinomian or lawless (and possibly libertarian, “open borders”) attitude toward the illegal immigration issue; at least 39 obscenities (including one “f” word and some “s,” “h” and “b” words) and four profanities; light violence includes one fistfight between teenagers, teenage boy gets stuck on barbed wire fence, brief chase scene, thieving dishwasher tips a bunch of glasses onto man to get away, and another scene where the movie’s main teenage boy punches and kicks an older man after the older man steals his father’s truck and is caught; no sex scenes or sexual immorality but some teenage kissing; some naturalistic upper male nudity; casual drinking is seen in a few scenes, including a nightclub through which the father walk, but father also arrives home drunk one night after his truck is stolen, but this is seen as a tragic moment and inspires the son’s change of heart toward his father; no smoking and minor teenage character appears to be holding a marijuana cigarette; and, some miscellaneous immorality such as gang members try to lure the main boy and his friends into gang life and speak glowingly about it but boy eventually declines, illegal alien father bends the rule of law in order to maintain his life in America, and teenage son is frequently disrespectful towards his father until about halfway through the movie, but the second half shows him deeply apologetic and helpful towards his father.

GENRE: Drama

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Older teenagers and adults

REVIEWER: Carl Kozlowski with Tom Snyder

REVIEW: A BETTER LIFE is a profound and welcome surprise. It’s a small movie that tells a beautiful yet somewhat tragic tale of a single-father gardener named Carlos trying to establish a solid future for his son Luis despite the fact that his own life is limited by being an illegal immigrant in Los Angeles, although he has a devout Catholic faith, which is depicted through his home’s pictures of Jesus and Mary, as well as his praying. Carlos has had to work seven days a week for years. Consequently, his son, Luis, has been left without a moral compass at the dangerous and pivotal time of his early teenage years, when he’s tempted by the lure of gang members.

Things for Carlos seem to take an upturn when he borrows $12,000 from his sister to buy his boss’ truck and equipment to launch his own gardening business. Carlos is determined to take Sundays off and spend more time with Luis.

Regrettably, on his first day working for himself, a fellow day laborer steals his truck and sells it, leaving Carlos financially and emotionally devastated. It is here, in seeing his father heartbroken, that Luis finally shows him respect rather than scoffing at him for being a laborer. The son tries to make amends for his disrespect by joining his father in a desperate citywide search for the vehicle.

[SPOILERS FOLLOW] Ultimately, they find the truck, but Carlos gets pulled over by police, who find he lacks a license or proper registration papers. The authorities imprison Carlos and decide to deport him. Luis desperately tries to see his father one last time before he’s sent back to Mexico, leading to a heartfelt meeting between father and son.

A BETTER LIFE is a riveting, heartfelt family drama with positive Christian references. The good news is that the story shows the son deciding not to get involved with gang life and help his father.

It may be easy to assume that a movie like A BETTER LIFE, in portraying illegal immigrants sympathetically, has a political agenda, but it mostly leaves politics out of the equation, even though it clearly sides with Carlos and his plight at the end and thus finally becomes a politically correct message movie.

The movie’s power lies in the father and son relationship, and the movie’s ability to show the world – in this case Los Angeles in all its wealth and squalor – through the eyes of characters seldom seen on the screen. It points out in many ways how isolated the lives of illegal aliens can be. Though Carlos is seen as a religious Christian, the movie’s focus is on his efforts to remain in the United States as an illegal alien.

Thus, while A BETTER LIFE is not overtly political, its emotional power leads to an immoral antinomian, or lawless, tone that could convince many impressionable viewers to support amnesty for illegal aliens. For example, although Scripture commands believers to treat the alien well, it also requires aliens to obey the law. Poor people in Latin America have a much tougher life than those in the United States, but that doesn’t give them the moral right to cross the border illegally and thus cheat the other, more righteous would-be immigrants standing in line for legal approval to become a U.S. citizen.

In this light, it’s interesting to note that the original story comes from former liberal, now fiscal conservative, defense hawk and social libertarian, author and blogger Roger L. Simon, who, because of his libertarian attitude on social issues, may take a libertarian position favoring “open borders” as well.

Ultimately, the bigger problem with the movie is its number of obscenities and profanities, which is excessive, though most of the ones used are not strong enough to warrant an R rating. This will limit the potential audience for A BETTER LIFE.

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Summit Entertainment

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SUMMARY: A BETTER LIFE is a small but very effective movie about an illegal Mexican immigrant in Los Angeles and his teenage son, who go on a desperate citywide search for the father’s stolen new gardening truck. A BETTER LIFE is a riveting, heartfelt family drama with positive Christian references, but it has some light politically correct elements to its story and contains too much foul language, so strong caution is advised.

A BETTER LIFE is a small but very effective movie about an illegal Mexican immigrant in Los Angeles and his teenage son. Carlos, a single father, works hard as a gardener, but his son Luis doesn’t respect that sacrifice. Things look up when Carlos borrows $12,000 from his sister to buy his boss’ truck and tools to launch his own business. A devout Catholic, Carlos is determined to start taking Sundays off and spend more time with Luis. Carlos is devastated, however, when the day laborer he befriended steals his truck and tools. Luis tries to make amends by joining his father in a desperate search for the vehicle.

(CC, B, PC, FR, LLL, V, N, AA, DD, MM) Strong Christian worldview with moral elements in the tale of a struggling illegal alien Catholic gardener who tries to make a better life for his teenage son by buying a truck and opening his own business, with tragic results, marred slightly by politically correct tone siding with the protagonist’s status as an illegal alien breaking several laws and protagonist has to rely on bending the rules and evading the legal system in order to survive, leading to an antinomian or lawless (and possibly libertarian, “open borders”) attitude toward the illegal immigration issue; at least 39 obscenities (including one “f” word and some “s,” “h” and “b” words) and four profanities; light violence includes one fistfight between teenagers, teenage boy gets stuck on barbed wire fence, brief chase scene, thieving dishwasher tips a bunch of glasses onto man to get away, and another scene where the movie’s main teenage boy punches and kicks an older man after the older man steals his father’s truck and is caught; no sex scenes or sexual immorality but some teenage kissing; some naturalistic upper male nudity; casual drinking is seen in a few scenes, including a nightclub through which the father walk, but father also arrives home drunk one night after his truck is stolen, but this is seen as a tragic moment and inspires the son’s change of heart toward his father; no smoking and minor teenage character appears to be holding a marijuana cigarette; and, some miscellaneous immorality such as gang members try to lure the main boy and his friends into gang life and speak glowingly about it but boy eventually declines, illegal alien father bends the rule of law in order to maintain his life in America, and teenage son is frequently disrespectful towards his father until about halfway through the movie, but the second half shows him deeply apologetic and helpful towards his father.

More Detail:

A BETTER LIFE is a profound and welcome surprise. It’s a small movie that tells a beautiful yet somewhat tragic tale of a single-father gardener named Carlos trying to establish a solid future for his son Luis despite the fact that his own life is limited by being an illegal immigrant in Los Angeles, although he has a devout Catholic faith, which is depicted through his home’s pictures of Jesus and Mary, as well as his praying. Carlos has had to work seven days a week for years. Consequently, his son, Luis, has been left without a moral compass at the dangerous and pivotal time of his early teenage years, when he’s tempted by the lure of gang members.

The movie’s power lies in the father and son relationship, and the movie’s ability to show the world – in this case Los Angeles in all its wealth and squalor – through the eyes of characters seldom seen on the screen. It points out in many ways how isolated the lives of illegal aliens can be. Though Carlos is seen as a religious Christian, the movie’s focus is on his efforts to remain in the United States as an illegal alien.

Una Vida Mejor: A Better Life (1997)

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After graduating from high school without any plans for the future, Isaiah receives a push to start making better life decisions. After graduating from high school without any plans for the future, Isaiah receives a push to start making better life decisions. After graduating from high school without any plans for the future, Isaiah receives a push to start making better life decisions.

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• August 23, 2024 (United States)
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JLab's Flex Open Earbuds are a $50 version of the Bose Ultra Open

You get slightly better durability and longer battery life for a lot fewer dollars..

Bose surprised everyone when it debuted its clip-on Ultra Open Earbuds early this year. The premise was part fashion and part function, leaving your ears open to ambient sounds while you listen to tunes or podcasts. That model is $299 though, a price that's prohibitive for anyone looking to give the unique wear style a try. Enter JLab, the budget audio company with a solid track record for sound quality and features for under $100, and its new model: the Flex Open Earbuds . At just $50, it's much easier to take a gamble on the clip-on design, especially if you don't want make these your all-day buds.

The Flex Open Earbuds offer the same basic premise as the Bose model. They clip onto the back of your ear while situating a speaker just outside of your ear canal. This leaves your ears open to outside noise you actually want to hear while also keeping your ears unplugged and comfy. JLab promises that the Flex Open Earbuds are suitable for calls, and multipoint Bluetooth allows you to switch devices with ease. Google Fast Pair is available on Android devices, so you can connect as soon as you take the buds out of the case.

Where the Flex Open Earbuds actually surpass the Ultra Open Earbuds is durability and battery life. The $50 JLab version is IP55 rated where the Bose model is IPX4. The Flex Open Earbuds will also last over seven hours on a charge, according to the company, which is at least two hours more than I got on the Ultra Open Earbuds during my tests.

In terms of audio, JLab employs 12mms drivers that it says are tuned to satisfy both bass lovers and listeners who love crisp, clear treble. The JLab app also provides a Bass Boost feature that leverages an algorithm for "astonishing" performance and "a truly immersive audio experience." I wouldn't expect sound quality on the level of Bose here, but JLab's reputation is solid enough that these will probably get the job done audio-wise. Plus, I mean, you're saving $250 in the process.

JLab Flex Open Earbuds

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Russia Sends Waves of Troops to the Front in a Brutal Style of Fighting

More than 1,000 Russian soldiers in Ukraine were killed or wounded on average each day in May, according to NATO and Western military officials.

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By Julian E. Barnes ,  Eric Schmitt and Marc Santora

Julian E. Barnes and Eric Schmitt reported from Washington, and Marc Santora from Kyiv, Ukraine.

May was a particularly deadly month for the Russian army in Ukraine, with an average of more than 1,000 of its soldiers injured or killed each day, according to U.S., British and other Western intelligence agencies.

But despite its losses, Russia is recruiting 25,000 to 30,000 new soldiers a month — roughly as many as are exiting the battlefield, U.S. officials said. That has allowed its army to keep sending wave after wave of troops at Ukrainian defenses, hoping to overwhelm them and break through the trench lines.

It is a style of warfare that Russian soldiers have likened to being put into a meat grinder, with commanding officers seemingly oblivious to the fact that they are sending infantry soldiers to die.

At times, this approach has proved effective, bringing the Russian army victories in Avdiivka and Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. But Ukrainian and Western officials say the tactics were less successful this spring, as Russia tried to take land near the city of Kharkiv.

American officials said that Russia achieved a critical objective of President Vladimir V. Putin, creating a buffer zone along the border to make it more difficult for the Ukrainians to strike into the country.

But the drive did not threaten Kharkiv and was ultimately stopped by Ukrainian defenses, according to Western officials.

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