A Better Life
Summit Entertainment | Release Date: June 24, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
22
Mixed:
7
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallJul 20, 2011
The weight of Carlos' world shows on his rugged face, even with rare half-smiles. This is a masterfully understated performance that should be remembered during awards season. Read full review
100
Boxoffice MagazinePete HammondJun 21, 2011
The timing is right for this remarkable and riveting family drama which puts a human face on the hot-button topic of immigration in such effective and emotional terms that you may never look at the subject in the same way again. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyJul 14, 2011
Its deceptive simplicity makes A Better Life so emotionally profound. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertJul 7, 2011
The performances are pitch perfect, even including Gabriel Chavarria as Ramon, the man who steals the truck. It adds an important element to the film that he embodies a desperate man, not a bad one. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianMarc MohanJun 23, 2011
Weitz does it again here, turning what could have been another manifesto of liberal guilt into a genuinely moving tale of a father and son banding together in a hostile world. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanJun 22, 2011
A Better Life was directed by the eclectic Chris Weitz (The Twilight Saga: New Moon, About a Boy), who weaves the torpor and anxiety of immigrant life into something dramatically true, if at moments a bit draggy. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJul 9, 2011
For most of the film, Weitz, riding a fantastic performance by Demián Bichir as the landscaper in question, succeeds in showing the day-to-day struggles that exist beneath the political rhetoric and upper-case headlines. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayJul 21, 2011
With such classics as "El Norte" and, more recently, "Sin Nombre" and "Under the Same Moon" having addressed the subject matter already and so well, viewers might be forgiven for asking just how many immigration movies we need. As A Better Life proves, as many as there are stories to tell. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jennie PunterJul 14, 2011
Speaking of moves, A Better Life is an interesting one for Weitz, who produced "American Pie" and directed "The Golden Compass" and, ahem, "The Twilight Saga: New Moon." Whatever the reason (his grandmother was a Mexican movie actress), this film feels more personal that just a gig. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliJul 7, 2011
A Better Life isn't an instant classic, but it tells its story with a simplicity and compassion that other urban dramas would be wise to emulate. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJun 26, 2011
Eric Eason's script is sometimes unduly contrived and derivative, but we are always aware that something larger is being played out. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversJun 23, 2011
This movie will get under your skin. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonJun 23, 2011
A Better Life leans too heavily on sad music, broad symbols, and weighty speeches to tell its story; it's more effective when it lets images speak in place of words. Read full review
75
ObserverRex ReedJun 21, 2011
The power in this movie is the way Chris Weitz trusts us to discover the facts for ourselves. Read full review
70
The New York TimesManohla DargisJun 23, 2011
As is sometimes the case with movies that take on civil and political rights without force-feeding the audience,A Better Life" plays the human interest angle hard. It tries to put a lump in your throat and a tear on your cheek (it succeeds), pumping your emotions doubtless in an attempt to look nonpartisan. Read full review
70
MovielineMichelle OrangeJun 23, 2011
Bichir - who played Fidel Castro in "Che" - resists the pathetic impulse, bringing dignity and distinction to a man who wakes up every morning knowing it's not just his burden but his job to be invisible. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttJun 18, 2011
By keeping things simple and understated, director Chris Weitz and screenwriter Eric Eason have crafted a little gem where humanity is observed with compassion, not condescension. Read full review
67
IndieWireEric KohnJun 20, 2011
Weisz flirts with greatness but unfortunately misses the opportunity to make the material soar. And yet he comes close. Read full review
63
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsJul 15, 2011
Unfolds like a fable instead of a believable slice of life. Mexican TV and film star Bichir gives a poignant performance, but he's distinctly more European than the cholos and Chicano laborers on the sketchy edges of the hero's plight. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisJul 14, 2011
This isn't a case of a liberal-minded movie inflicting goodness upon a character but a man radiating goodness because, well, he is good. Read full review
63
New York PostLou LumenickJun 24, 2011
Weitz keeps the schmaltz in check, but it's clear pretty much from the outset that this immigrant family is fated never to find A Better Life north of the border. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineEd GonzalezJun 18, 2011
Save for its loving, plaintive, and thorough tour of the seldom-filmed East L.A., A Better Life is, top to bottom, derivative-of Polanski in its direction and of "Bicycle Thieves" in its plot (even Alexandre Desplat's gussy score suggests Angelo Badalamenti playing Mariachi Night). Read full review
60
EmpireEve BarlowJul 25, 2011
An interesting exploration of class struggle which recalls classics like "Bicycle Thieves" but doesn't quite live up to them. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanJun 24, 2011
Feels more earnest than real. Still, its sincerity is admirable, and often touching. Read full review
50
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreJul 13, 2011
Once you get past the cliched Spanglish dialogue and the sentimental tone of the early acts, A Better Life settles down into something both involving and moving. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderAndrea GronvallJul 7, 2011
A major star in Mexico, Bichir is quietly affecting as the father, a humble striver who faces loss at every turn. Read full review
50
Village VoiceMelissa AndersonJun 21, 2011
Weitz and screenwriter Eric Eason are unable to commit fully even to this sudsy vision, tacking on a coda that completely undermines their already timid message. Read full review
50
VarietyJustin ChangJun 18, 2011
Director Chris Weitz's problematic new picture, which, despite Demian Bichir's affecting lead performance and a strong feel for Los Angeles' Mexican-American communities, emerges an earnest and overly programmatic heart-tugger. Read full review
40
Time OutDavid FearJun 21, 2011
Kudos for stepping outside your comfort zone, sir, even if the result just translates as old-fashioned cultural slumming masked as tear-jerking humanism. Better luck next time. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenJul 7, 2011
Unlike its multifaceted director, the film never stretches its boundaries. Read full review
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