BELLA (2006)

REVIEW

Bella is a Mexican soccer star who kills a child in an accident, resulting in his imprisonment for manslaughter. When he gets out, José works in his brother Manny’s (Manny Perez, Third Watch) restaurant in New York.

Manny fires a pregnant, troubled waitress named Niña (Tammy Blanchard, The Good German) for being late. Seeing her anguish, José follows her, leaving his work behind and his brother in the lurch. What follows are revelations, touched by gentle humor, about loneliness, family, life, dignity, humanity, empathy and great kindness.

Bella was made on a shoestring budget, directed and co-written by relative newcomer Alejandro Gomez Monteverde. He teamed with Verástegui and producers Sean Wolfington, Leo Severino and Eustace Wolfington to make this movie and form Metanoia Films. Although Steve McEveety (The Passion of the Christ) declined to be part of the project early on, he later became executive producer. Verástegui is also an acclaimed recording artist who starred in popular Spanish soap operas on Televisa.

Bella won the 2006 People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival, was screened at the White House and has been recognized by the Smithsonian Institution. This independent road-trip film not only journeys from Manhattan to Long Island but also travels light years in terms of the inner lives of the characters, the choices they make and the consequences, mature themes.

To watch more movies like BELLA (2006) visit Fmovies.

Also watch

• The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
• THE UPSIDE OF ANGER (2005)
• BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM (2002)
• Vanity Fair (2004)
• Daughters of Darkness (1971)