20th February, 2008

DAVID ADAMS

Bella (PG)

In A Word: Hopeful

FACING THE FUTURE: Jose (played by Eduardi Verastegui) and Nina (Tammy Blanchard) share their life experiences, "Well-scripted and backed by a great soundtrack, the movie is a simple but beautiful tale about family, friendship and love. About life, all it throws at us, and how we deal with it. About redemption and what really matters in life."

In every life there are moments, often unexpected, that change our path forever.

Bella is about some of those moments in the lives of two people - a would-be professional soccer star turrned chef called Jose (played by Eduardi Verastegui) whose life is irreversibly changed after an event in his past and his friend Nina (Tammy Blanchard), a struggling waitress who discovers she is pregnant.

The pair, who at the start of the film work at a Mexican restaurant run by Jose’s brother Manny (Miguel Perez), soon find their lives intertwining as Nina is fired and Jose decides to help her.

The film, which won the People's Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival, follows them as they struggle to come to terms with the hand they’ve been dealt and share their life stories. And there’s no glib or neat answers presented here.

Bella takes place in everyday locations - on the streets of New York, in restaurants and family homes - and makes great use of cooking imagery which somehow works to add a sense of the everyday to this film; to connect the lives of its protagonists with our own (it’s a feeling that’s also helped along by the relative obscurity of the cast, none of whom are household names).

Well-scripted and backed by a great soundtrack, the movie is a simple but beautiful tale about family, friendship and love. About life, all it throws at us, and how we deal with it. About redemption and what really matters in life.

Amid all the Hollywood hype, Bella is a breath of fresh air.

~ www.bellamoviesite.com

Bella is in cinemas from 21st February.

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