A Better Life (2011)

Nominated for Best Lead Actor    This movie wasn't nearly as depressing as I thought it would be.  Granted, it's not sunshine and roses but I was expecting utter hopelessness based on the Netflix sleeve.  As far as Best Leading Man is concerned, I'm not 100% sold on Demian Bichir.  He's up against Clooney, Pitt, Gary Oldman, and Jean Dujardin.  I haven't seen The Descendents or The Artist but both of them have had way more buzz than this movie.  I wasn't that impressed with Moneyball but Gary Oldman has been passed over a number of times and I think he could break that streak with Tinker Tailor.

But we're talking about this movie.  Carlos Galindo (Demian Bichir) is an illegal immigrant who works as a gardener.  His boss is retiring and urges Carlos to buy his truck and take over his route, even though Carlos has no license, because it will let him earn more money; maybe even enough to move out of East L.A. before his son Luis (Jose Julian) joins one of the omnipresent gangs.  He struggles to come up with the cash, finally turning to his sister, Anita (Dolores Heredia), who married a citizen some years before.  Things seem to be picking up for Carlos until a compassionate decision leads to disaster.  One of his fellow workers steals his truck and all of his tools.  He and Luis try to track the man down in order to secure their future.

It is a hard thing to have a child and to want to provide more for that child than you were given.  In this much, I understand the plight of this character.  He is breaking the law with his very existence and yet trying to set an example of honesty and integrity for his son, trying to instill a strong work ethic despite the promises of an easy indolent life made by the local gangsters, trying to make him understand that respect is something that first starts inside yourself rather than in a tattoo.  It is a hard life and an unenviable one.

This is not a movie I would have ever watched on my own but it serves to remind me why I do this Oscar list every year.  Even, like this year, when I think the nominees are complete crap for the most part, there will be one or two gems that I would otherwise have missed.