The Good Life

The story is about a small town and how life sucks for almost everyone. And we see a depiction of the various coping mechanisms - taking it with humor, the dire situation fueling aggression, escapism, acceptance and resilience. It's quite an interesting theme. Unfortunately the comparison between the different ways of handling life falls short and the focus lying solely on Webber's and Deschanel's character makes the movie one sided and weakens the whole premise. This and the attempt to give the movie a melancholic undertone makes it rather boring to watch. With less stereotyping of the other characters and a more in depth portrayal of them could have made the movie a really good one.

Overall: It's not bad and definitely worth watching on a lazy Sunday - it just doesn't live up to it's potential.

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.

I saw this one at the AFI Dallas festival..The story of a young guy who has a very bad family environment, a medical condition and an attitude toward football, all of which serve to alienate him from his surroundings. He works at a gas station and helps out at an old movie theater. He tries to keep the bills paid at home, where he lives with his mother, but he doesn't always succeed. Stephen Berra, a pro skateboarder writes and directs, and from what he said after the movie, you'll be seeing more of his work. Mark Webber (Jesus' Son, Broken Flowers) stars with Zooey Deschanel (Trillian in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) Harry Dean Stanton and Bill Paxton. Webber is very real and sympathetic and Zooey does a good job as the almost angelic and quite strange Frances. A moving, intimate film.

This is at its heart a story we've seen in movies many, many times, either as a primary or secondary plot: Mid-20s underachiever feels alienated and lacks true purpose in life while caught in a small town.

Jason (played my Mark Webber, a brilliant up-and-coming actor you will hear more and more about) suffers from a disease that makes him lose all his hair. He lives with his vulnerable mother, who keeps holding him back because she is unable to care for herself. He cannot connect with the rest of his awkward family. He works several low-paying jobs, including one at a theatre. The theatre's owner is mentally ill and so, Jason must also take care of him.

Throughout the duration of the film, we see him interact with other individuals, most of which are quirky, most of which seem just as alienated about this "good life" in Nebraska, with unrealized ambitions, broken dreams and broken lives.

This kind of synopsis might appeal to me if I hadn't seen it all before, several times. But where The Good Life redeems itself somewhat is in the execution. Stephen Berra has written organic, believable characters, starting with the protagonist Jason, who has to battle several issues including the legacy his father has left to him. There is a haunting theme throughout the movie that people around Jason have raised the white flag on a better life. Jason's father has done worse, abandoning all hope not only for himself but for his loved ones, inviting them to give up as well.

The other key character here is Frances, a role perfectly suited for the charming and quirky Zooey Deschanel. When Frances meet Jason, she becomes a catalyst for his renewed interest in fighting for his life. A true good life. But unlike the prototypical feel-good Hollywood movie, Frances is not just a device to allow Jason to go on to a better life. She is human and flawed and her sudden interest for our underachiever is complex like all real life relationships are.

And this is where I think this movie shines. The various people Jason meets and interacts with all seem to have their own problems. There is no wise sage around the corner waiting to selflessly give a hand. Selflessness might be the trait that most defines Jason. Underneath, he has all those aspirations, on the surface he neglects his true self while living a life he finds pointless.

And so to me, the movie is mostly successful in making you reexamine the mutuality of relationships, the duties we impose upon ourselves and our true motives. Is being selfless always a good and noble act?

If you enjoy indie dramas and the themes described above, you may enjoy The Good Life as I did.

Well done but very depressing. The IMDb profile labels it Comedy/Drama but I never got even a mild chuckle. I would never watch this again nor recommend it. But, Zoey is . . . Just about the most captivating female I have ever seen in my 74 years on this planet.