A Better Life On DVD: Dude, Where's My Truck?

My "Hidden Movie Gem" pick this week for CBC Radio is A Better Life, a sort of modern-day version of The Bicycle Thief set among the Mexican-American community of Los Angeles. It's a film that sounds familiar (or at least predictable) in its outlines—a noble, self-sacrificing illegal-immigant dad, an ungrateful teenage son who is tempted by the shallow values of gang life but who ultimately comes to appreciate his father's virtues by film's end—but which turns out to be surprisingly absorbing and moving in its execution. Much of the praise for that accomplishment goes to actor Demian Bichir, who plays the father, but much also goes to director Chris Weitz (best known for About a Boy, The Golden Compass, and Twilight: New Moon), who finds a nice middle ground between street-level realism and Hollywood-style sentiment and gloss.

Still dubious? Can't say as I blame you, but click here anyway to listen to the segment and hear me make my full case.