CinePhillyist Reviews...Bella

If this sounds really drippy and precious, I guess it kind of is. The signs of preciousness are seen throughout the film. As Jose and Nina take a subway train in New York City, there is a musical troupe… ON THE TRAIN… complete with a singer and a guy playing a bucket in the aisle. Maybe this sort of thing is based on someone’s real life, but on every New York subway train I’ve been on, the commuters are squeezed in tighter than the beltline of Andy Reid’s XXXL khakis. Then there is the super-wise, friendly homeless black guy (Super-wise? Black? Morgan Freeman wasn't available?), and the restaurant manager/friend of Jose’s who hires Nina on the spot when she finds out that she has been fired from her job.

Then you get the “New York’s a melting pot” cultural clichés. Asian storeowner yelling in broken English to ugly American about calling the police? Check. Rich, white hottie running into Jose and looking down on Nina because she is wearing her Mexican-themed waitress outfit? Check. African dude driving the cab in all his koofi-and-dashiki laden glory? Check. By the time you get to meet Jose’s family and they really believe in la familia and dancing to Merengue music at dinner time, you may think you’d wandered into the It’s a Small World ride while wearing your best outfit from United Colors of Benetton.

There are cinematic flaws as well. Some of the scenes where characters divulge major pieces of backstory seem forced. I especially thought that Jose’s secret, which was developed pretty well through skillful flashbacks and montages, was given away a little early and with not much arm-twisting. Meanwhile, a scene at the beach where Nina reveals some information about her dysfunctional upbringing just seems to come flowing out of nowhere as if someone had opened that elevator door in Kubrick's The Shining. Speaking after the film, the director Alejandro Monteverde candidly spoke of editing issues that took place during post-production, and it is true that the film, which ran about 105 minutes, might have benefited from a longer running time. Monteverde’s work with flashbacks was so effective, I would have loved to see how Nina interacted with her mother, rather than having her spit it out as if prompted via cattle prod.

However, laugh if you must at the saccharine premise or the lengthy close-up at the end of a butterfly or a feather or whatever it was, but there is no doubting that, after some seasoning—this is Monteverde’s first feature film and he is just eight years removed from University of Texas film school—the director could be capable of some very interesting projects. First of all, he does some great work with the actors, all of whom reveal a terrific chemistry with each other and an ability to rise above past expectations.

A co-producer on the film and former Latin pop star, Eduardo Verastegui’s previous credits include small roles on CSI: Miami and Charmed, as well as the title role in the less-than-stellar, Chasing Papi, a film that I could have watched on mute simply because it co-starred the stunning Sofia Vergara (guys, get your Google on). After reading his resume, I was definitely surprised by the soulfulness and gravity that he brought to the role of Jose, especially when matched with Tammy Blanchard (The Good Shephard), who played the role of the forlorn Nina. Blanchard, who my wife not-so-graciously referred to as “the poor-man’s Hilary Swank,” does a very good job at revealing the psyche of a girl so beaten up by life that her low self-esteem brings her to the brink of one of a woman’s toughest decisions. Also, effective in the film are Jaime Tirelli and Ramon Rodriguez, bringing needed levity as Jose’s father and younger brother, respectively. (Hell, Monteverde even drags a serviceable performance out of smoking, yet wooden, wife, Ali Landry, someone who was heretofore more well known for catching Doritos in her mouth and dating that Slater dude from Saved by the Bell.)

Monteverde, who also wrote the script, gives the film an extra level of intrigue with a high level of technical virtuosity. Like Mexican compadre Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu (21 Grams, Babel) he is at his best when his actors aren’t babbling backstory. The guy definitely has a way with a montage. A scene where Jose reconnects with his father by helping plant a tree may sound sappy in more ways than one, but it does a great job of illustrating the strength of Jose’s support system. The film also works in a provocative, non-linear fashion, such as when a scene where Jose and Nina talk over lunch, fast-forwards to an abortion clinic where Nina either does or doesn’t end up terminating her pregnancy. (You’re probably wondering… dude is probably pro-life, but the film never shoves it down your throat.) A scene where Jose makes amends for blowing off work by cooking a silent breakfast for his previously all-business brother Manny? No cheeseball apologies or hugs. Just masterful filmmaking… OK, Manny actually does hug Jose at the end of the scene. I didn’t say the dude doesn’t have work to do.

The producers are selling the film on the fact that it recently won the People’s Choice award at the Toronto Film Festival, but screw that. In a world where a preachy piece of garbage like Crash can win a Best Picture Oscar and Lars and the Real Girl can get financing, who can’t win an award? Quite honestly, I’d probably wait for video on this one. Its scope does not require big-screen viewing and there are too many flaws to recommend that you shell out twenty bucks to the local theater. But wait a few months to check it out on video and, when Monteverde works out the kinks—for instance, you don’t make a movie with an actor so good-looking he has my wife salivating like me at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse and force him to do the whole thing in a scraggly, Jesus beard and haircut—you’ll be able to say you knew him when.

Image courtesy of Metanoia Films.