The Los Angeles Film Festival ended on June 26 giving Southern Californians nearly every kind of film to enjoy—many taking place right in the heart of the city. Showing very different films throughout the Festival, two that prove the many choices offered were shown the same evening and share a word in the titles—“A Better Life” and “Life Happens.”
Chris Weitz directs his stars in A Better Life.
“A Better Life” held its world premiere at the LAFF, complete with red carpet arrivals from cast, crew and director Chris Weitz. He even invited friends Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart from his 2009 project in the “Twilight” series “New Moon.” Weitz introduced the film giving credit to its cast of Hispanic actors, the heart of the film.
Starring Demian Bichir (a long resume but most known in the States for his role in “Weeds”) as Carlos Galindo, a long-suffering father trying to give his son the life he was never able to have. They are living in Los Angeles, but Carlos is not here legally. He works seven days a week to provide for his teenage son and yearns to have his “papers,” but luck is not on Carlos’ side.
Fifteen-year-old Luis Galindo (Jose Julian in his first feature film) struggles to accept his position in society and find exactly where he fits in. He is forced to attend high school in a less-than-desirable area and soon discovers that gangs rule the town. His best friend is debating on joining a gang, but Luis just can’t figure out the right thing to do, especially when he sees his father come in day in and day out, just hoping to catch a break and make ends meet.
A riveting performance by Bichir propels this story of the issues plaguing this country where illegal immigration is concerned. Completely made in Los Angeles, local Hispanics took part in the filming and are central to the plot. After catching a glimpse into a world that many have not seen first-hand, it’s hard to go back to the days of not knowing the corruption that lies in Los Angeles’ backyard.
A Better Life's Demian Bichir and Jose Julian.
Heartbreaking and impactful, Weitz’ direction leads “A Better Life” into a arena that many filmmakers strive to, much like documentary filmmaking, where a true-to-life story is told in such a way that others want to make a difference. The two leads’ performances are so captivating that leaving the film having not been emotionally moved might mean you’re missing the ability to feel at all.
On the other hand, the LAFF offers several popcorn flicks too for those days that mindless entertainment is needed. Not every trip to the cinema should bring about tears, and “Life Happens” definitely does not force important themes or thought-provoking dialogue on anyone.
A “Bridesmaids” wannabe with female leads and raunchy comedy, “Life Happens” was directed and co-written by Kat Coiro; BFF and lead actress Krysten Ritter participated in the writing portion too. The plot is simple: best friends Kim (Ritter) and Deena (Kate Bosworth) have the perfect roommate life with unlimited opportunities and hopes for the future until Kim unexpectedly gets pregnant.
Krysten Ritter, Rachel Bilson and Kate Bosworth star in Life Happens
Kim and Deena continue to live together while one friend takes care of her child and the other continues pursuing her dreams of becoming a published self-help book author for women. Kim has had to put her aspirations of opening the first-ever puppy mall on hold and works for a horrible rich lady played by Kristen Johnston (“3rd Rock From the Sun”).
When Kim decides to finally get back into the dating scene, she gets nervous and lies about having a baby at all. It’s actually worse than that because she says the baby is Deena’s. As a typical romantic comedy goes, things continue to spiral out of control, and the laughs are supposed to ensue.
Co-starring Rachel Bilson, Jason Biggs, Geof Stults and Justin Kirk, “Life Happens” has its moments of good-natured humor and interesting one-liners on young adults in Los Angeles, but with an unlikable lead actress, the compliments end there.
Bosworth steals the show from Ritter as an opinionated feminist who can’t figure out how to balance her relationship with a new mom. It’s hard to feel sorry for Ritter’s plight, and at one point when she exasperatingly asks why no one warns that motherhood is so hard, Deena bitingly retorts that that is all anyone ever really says about it.
Not a film that will stay with the audience for years to come (like “A Better Life” will), “Life Happens” provides ladies with a harmless girls’ night out flick that remains watchable if not all that memorable. Its original title “BFF and Baby” at least spurred intrigue and added creativity, but it was changed to the drab “Life Happens” at some point during production.
“A Better Life” opened in limited release on June 24 through Summit Entertainment. More information can be found at www.facebook.com/ABetterLifeMovie. “Life Happens” does not currently have a release date, but its twitter continues updating: www.twitter.com/lifehappensfilm.
