Reel Views: A Beautiful Life misses the mark
A Beautiful Life (2009)
It's easy to imagine the idea that motivated director Alejandro Chomski's 2008 film A Beautiful Life, a story of finding love under the harsh realities of inner-city life for immigrants. The mark was missed by miles, though, as instead of exploring and deconstructing myths and negative stereotypes involving immigrants living in Los Angeles, the film simply perpetuates negativity.
A Beautiful Life is the story of Maggie and David, the former a young girl trying desperately to escape the abusive realities of her life and the latter an illegal immigrant living in L.A.'s inner city. The two meet under unusual circumstances but have an instant attraction to one another. Their relationship is troubled by sexual baggage and intense idiosyncrasies that constantly threaten to tear the couple apart; however, they find strength through their friends who include exotic dancers and drug traffickers. The plot becomes a little too complex and clouded for a simple viewing and attention must be paid in order to understand the events occurring.
The cast proves to be yet another of the film's weak points. Maggie is played by the relatively unknown Angela Sarafyan, who brings nothing at all to the character. More whiny than touching, Sarafyan plays into the negative stereotypes all too often associated with not only immigrants, but also of young runaway girls. Most of the dialogue delivered sounds wooden and completely insincere or as if Sarafyan is on the verge of a tearful breakdown.
No more impressive is Sarafyan's co-star Jesse Garcia in his role as David. Garcia is no more compelling emotionally, and is, if possible, even more of a contributor to the negativity felt in the flick.
In a role that surprises no one, Bai Ling plays an exotic dancer, something all film fans have seen her do already. Ling is one of those actors who rarely gets lines and is perpetually mostly naked; however, she has a true talent for acting. When the scantily clad girl finally gets her chance to speak she is brilliant, but she has not nearly enough screen time or dialogue to make any real contributions to the overall feel of the story.
A Beautiful Life finds itself in the territory where, unfortunately, the majority of films that attempt to deal with race issues find themselves. Instead of shedding light on the issues in the film and breaking down the preconceived notions and ignorance of racism in America, it does the exact opposite. The film seems to legitimize and at points even back up the racially driven negativity which brings down the atmosphere to something that can only be described as ignorant and deplorable. Far from making headway, A Beautiful Life seems to set back the movement to end racism in America.
More than its poor message, the film is terribly slow moving and hard to follow. Perhaps this film may appeal to a handful of film buffs, but for the most part, this is one DVD that is better avoided.
Rating: 1 1/2 out of 5 stars
It's easy to imagine the idea that motivated director Alejandro Chomski's 2008 film A Beautiful Life, a story of finding love under the harsh realities of inner-city life for immigrants. The mark was missed by miles, though, as instead of exploring and deconstructing myths and negative stereotypes involving immigrants living in Los Angeles, the film simply perpetuates negativity.
A Beautiful Life is the story of Maggie and David, the former a young girl trying desperately to escape the abusive realities of her life and the latter an illegal immigrant living in L.A.'s inner city. The two meet under unusual circumstances but have an instant attraction to one another. Their relationship is troubled by sexual baggage and intense idiosyncrasies that constantly threaten to tear the couple apart; however, they find strength through their friends who include exotic dancers and drug traffickers. The plot becomes a little too complex and clouded for a simple viewing and attention must be paid in order to understand the events occurring.
The cast proves to be yet another of the film's weak points. Maggie is played by the relatively unknown Angela Sarafyan, who brings nothing at all to the character. More whiny than touching, Sarafyan plays into the negative stereotypes all too often associated with not only immigrants, but also of young runaway girls. Most of the dialogue delivered sounds wooden and completely insincere or as if Sarafyan is on the verge of a tearful breakdown.
No more impressive is Sarafyan's co-star Jesse Garcia in his role as David. Garcia is no more compelling emotionally, and is, if possible, even more of a contributor to the negativity felt in the flick.
In a role that surprises no one, Bai Ling plays an exotic dancer, something all film fans have seen her do already. Ling is one of those actors who rarely gets lines and is perpetually mostly naked; however, she has a true talent for acting. When the scantily clad girl finally gets her chance to speak she is brilliant, but she has not nearly enough screen time or dialogue to make any real contributions to the overall feel of the story.
A Beautiful Life finds itself in the territory where, unfortunately, the majority of films that attempt to deal with race issues find themselves. Instead of shedding light on the issues in the film and breaking down the preconceived notions and ignorance of racism in America, it does the exact opposite. The film seems to legitimize and at points even back up the racially driven negativity which brings down the atmosphere to something that can only be described as ignorant and deplorable. Far from making headway, A Beautiful Life seems to set back the movement to end racism in America.
More than its poor message, the film is terribly slow moving and hard to follow. Perhaps this film may appeal to a handful of film buffs, but for the most part, this is one DVD that is better avoided.
Rating: 1 1/2 out of 5 stars
