Review: A Better Life Searches for the American Dream

There is little in Chris Weitz’s filmography to suggest that he might have a low-key drama like A Better Life in him.

Before his recent detours into big-budget fantasy franchises with The Golden Compass and Twilight: New Moon, Weitz’s sensibilities often skewed comedic, partnering with brother Paul to co-produce, co-direct, and/or co-write American Pie, American Dreamz, and the sublime About a Boy. The closest this film comes to any of those is a scene in which two girls belt out a song in their living room with plenty of sass, much to the delight of their family members, several of whom are heavily tattooed gangbangers. In that moment, it’s American Dreamz by way of the American dream.

When Luis (Jose Julian) first meets these local hoods, he and a friend are equally tempted by the possibility of dropping out of school and joining up, and once he sees their secure family interactions, it seems like an even more tempting alternative to his current home life. Mom is out of the picture — not dead, just gone — which means his father, Carlos (Demian Bichir), is either exhausted on the couch or off doing landscaping work just to make ends meet. Unbeknownst to Luis, Carlos is at a crossroads: if he could somehow afford his boss’ offer to sell their work truck, it comes with his client list to boot. But if Carlos gets caught driving without a license, he will likely end up deported to Mexico, leaving Luis behind in California with his aunt.

We know this can’t end well, and if you’ve seen 1948’s Bicycle Thieves, then you know what happens next: Carlos’ livelihood gets stolen right from under him, leaving father and son to scour Los Angeles for the precious truck and bond in the process. Weitz and screenwriter Eric Eason don’t dodge every cliché of urban pressures and cultural representation; from the moment Luis and his friend discuss the prospect of joining a gang, it’s apparent that at least one will give in, and a painfully distinct sampling of minorities wind up depicted in a montage as Carlos rides home from Beverly Hills to East L.A. It’s the stuff that bleeding heart op-ed columns are made of, but thankfully, a parade of handy heritage (“Oh, look! We’ve got time to enjoy this rodeo!”) isn’t all that A Better Life has to offer.

Though Julian is convincingly whiny and ungrateful in the film’s early stages, as he and Carlos spend an increasing amount of screen time together, their passive/aggressive rapport makes his performance easier to tolerate. The real standout is Bichir (Che), delivering a pitch-perfect performance of determination, defeat, and pride. In the face of great odds, and opposite his young co-star’s less nuanced turn, Carlos remains a steadfast individual whose struggles to survive become increasingly worthy of our emotional investment and remarkably universal in their implications.

Subtlety may not be Weitz’s strong suit, especially whenever the dialogue takes a turn toward openly espousing about the American dream, but the thorough sincerity of the father-son relationship and generally subdued depiction of class struggle ultimately keep this film more in line with intimate character studies like The Visitor and less like self-important social commentaries such as Under the Same Moon.

Grade: B-