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A Better Life

A Better Life

Drama · 2011

An Indigenous Latino American gardener in East L.A. struggles to keep his son away from gangs and immigration agents while traveling across town to perform landscaping work for the city's wealthy landowners.

Movie details

A Better Life

“Every father wants more for his son.”

2011 Drama 1h 38m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.2 / 10

Community rating

An Indigenous Latino American gardener in East L.A. struggles to keep his son away from gangs and immigration agents while traveling across town to perform landscaping work for the city's wealthy landowners.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over A Better Life?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Drama · 2013

Grace, a compassionate young supervisor at a foster care facility, helps at-risk teens. But when a new charge dredges up memories of her own troubled past, Grace's tough exterior begins eroding.

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Black or White

Drama · 2015

A grieving widower is drawn into a custody battle over his granddaughter, whom he helped raise her entire life.

An Unfinished Life

An Unfinished Life

Drama · 2005

Stoic and heartbroken, Einar Gilkyson quietly lives in the rugged Wyoming ranchlands alongside his only trusted friend, Mitch Bradley. One day, the woman he blames for the death of his only son arrives at his door broke, desperate, and with a granddaughter he's never known. But even as buried anger and accusations resurface, the way is opened for unexpected connection, adventure, and forgiveness.

The Color of Friendship

The Color of Friendship

Drama · 2000

Mahree Bok lives on a farm in South Africa. Her father is a policeman who cannot hide his joy when activist Steve Biko is caught by the South African authorities. Piper Dellums is the daughter of a US congressman from California and who lives in a nice home in Washington DC. When Mahree is chosen to spend a semester at the Dellums' house, she doesn't expect that her host family would be black. Nor do her hosts suspect that she is not a black South African.

The Judge

The Judge

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The River

The River

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Dad

Dad

Drama · 1989

A busy executive learns during a meeting that his mother may be dying and rushes home to her side. He ends up being his father's caretaker and becomes closer to him than ever before. Estranged from his own son, the executive comes to realize what has been missing in his own life.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Chris Weitz

Written by

Eric Eason · Roger L. Simon

Demián Bichir

Demián Bichir

Carlos Riquelme

José Julián

José Julián

Luis Galindo

Chelsea Rendon

Chelsea Rendon

Ruthie Valdez

Dolores Heredia

Dolores Heredia

Anita

Joaquín Cosío

Joaquín Cosío

Blasco Martinez

Carlos Linares

Carlos Linares

Santiago

Bobby Soto

Bobby Soto

Facundo

Court is in session

Put A Better Life on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.