This week finds me having watched two notable films, the first, A Better Life, dealing with an important sociological/political issue that all the political candidates (that I’ve seen anyway) try to deal with without considering that immigrants are, actually, you know, people. The second movie is a ‘coming of age’ movie in which a brilliant (and virginal) boy goes to Ivy League super college and learns about women, sex, and friendship… even family. Cherry is low budget, yet has good writing and a couple of good performances.

A Better Life ___________ 8.5

Story by Roger L. Simon
Screenplay by Eric Eason
Directed by Chris Weitz

Demián Bichir … Carlos Galindo
José Julián … Luis Galindo
Eddie ‘Piolin’ Sotelo … Himself
Joaquín Cosio … Blasco Martinez
Nancy Lenehan … Mrs. Donnely
Gabriel Chavarria … Ramon
Bobby Soto … Facundo
Dolores Heredia … Anita

Too early for quotes to be listed on the IMDb page, and many of them are in Spanish in subtitles. But the mix of humorous and poignant dialog is especially remarkable and immediate. Continue reading →