The Good Life

I've seen this movie compared to Donnie Darko several times, most recently in another comment here on IMDb, however, they're nothing alike. Donnie Darko is a beautiful, thought-provoking film, while this movie just falls flat. It tries so very hard to be deep and depressing, that it ends up almost a parody of itself. The quasi-philosophical mumblings of the main character sound like they where stolen from a manga and none of the characters seem even remotely like actual people.

My advice, watch "The Go-Getter" instead. It too has a young man who's lost both a parent and his way, it too has Zooey Deschanel, and unlike The Good Life, it has humor and it doesn't try to be something it's not.

This is a quiet movie that builds in power over time. It's a slice of life movie, but much more. It tells a story of how powerful the need to escape can be, but how this need, by its very strength, can make you its slave. The cast is amazing, and the pacing is hypnotic. The leads are perfect and totally engrossing. Often movies like this skimp on plot, but I was very satisfied the movie has a very interesting plot twist 2/3rd through, that makes you reevaluate everything you've seen so far. Yet this twist is completely organic to the story, not something thrown in from outside. Very deftly handled. Well done. Though I don't know why Canadians have to pretend their movies take place in the US, when they take place in Manitoba.

Hell yes it's the new Donnie Dark, but the only problem is, it's a million times better. Mark Webber is unbelievable. UN-BE-LEIVABLE. I've been a fan of his since snow day. This movie is one of those movies in ten years every teenager will cite as being one of their favorite films. I guarantee that. I guarantee it. Jason Prayer (mark Webber's character) will be as famous as Donnie Darko. I attended the salt lake city screening of the movie and the crowd stood up and cheered when it was over. Steve Berra will be up there with any and every serious filmmaker that ever put an eye up to the camera. If you were looking for a new classic in modern day cinema and found the good life, I'd say you hit the jackpot. JP

Sad, poignant, and rich, this quiet film will give you a glimpse of the human condition from the unique voice of Stephen Berra who writes and directs. He has created something to be forever proud and for those of us that run across it over time on NetFlix (or like I did recently on The Movie Channel) to be thankful for.

The presence of wonderful actors including Harry Dean Stanton, Bill Paxton, and Zooey Deschanel should draw people to this film and the excellent acting and writing will hold them until its end.

Mark Webber is warm and believable as the young man stuck in a Nebraska town that is frigid both physically and existentially.

Zooey creates a memorable character and even briefly sings in this film which is always a delight. Give this one a try. It will not waste your time.

Jason Prayer lives his life as a round peg in the square hole of college football-obsessed Nebraska. Writer/director Stephen Berra has provided his hero with plenty of baggage so an audience can easily tag him as a stereotypical Indie protagonist. He suffers from alopecia, an auto-immune disorder which has left him completely hairless. His father has committed suicide, he lives with his mom in a shabby house besieged by debt collectors from the electricity company - and he works the day shift at a gas station where he's terrorized by a muscle car maniac.

Jason's evenings are spent assisting the senile owner of a decaying cinema, where vintage movies are projected over empty auditoriums. His prospects perk up when beautiful Indie-babe Frances shows up at the theater, and recognizes him as a kindred spirit - and later that night she drives him home after he gets beaten up by the motor-head psycho. Unfortunately the course of true love seldom runs smoothly in Indie-world, and by the end of the film it's uncertain whether Frances is escaped-from-an-asylum crazy, or a figment of Jason's imagination created by too many nights at the movies. Either way, she's the catalyst that prompts him to embark on a quest for a better life beyond freezing Nebraska - and that can't be all bad.