Bella(2006 film)

Bella
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Alejandro Gomez Monteverde
Written by	Alejandro Gomez Monteverde Patrick Million
Produced by	Alejandro Gomez Monteverde Eduardo Verástegui Sean Wolfington Leo Severino Denise Pinckley
Starring	Eduardo Verástegui Tammy Blanchard
Cinematography	Andrew Cadelago
Edited by	Fernando Villena
Music by	Stephan Altman
Production company	Mpower Pictures
Distributed by	Roadside Attractions
Release dates	September 9, 2006(2006-09-09)(TIFF) October 26, 2007(2007-10-26)(United States)
Running time	91 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$3.3 million
Box office	$12 million

Bellais a 2006 Americandrama filmco-written, co-produced, and directed byAlejandro Gomez Monteverde,starringEduardo VerasteguiandTammy Blanchard.Set in New York City, the film is about the events of one day and the impact on the characters' lives.

Plot

In New York City, José works as a cook in a Mexican restaurant owned by his stern chef brother, Manny. When the establishment is getting ready to open, Nina the waitress arrives late for the second day in a row and Manny fires her on the spot. As Nina leaves, she drops a teddy bear. José retrieves it and chases her into the subway to hand it back. When asked why she was late, she tells him she is pregnant and was ill frommorning sickness.José offers her a stroll around the city, which she accepts. He takes Nina to Manny's colleague's restaurant to recommend her for a waitressing position. While they dine to wait for the response, Nina tells him she does not intend to proceed with her pregnancy and is seriously considering an abortion partly because the father is uninterested in supporting her and she is broke.

Nina agrees to go with him to the beach but José says he has to go back to the restaurant and get his wallet. When he returns, Manny rebukes him for flaking at work for Nina. After José argues with his brother over his oppressive demeanor, Manny fires him. José then boards a train with Nina to his home. During the trip he persuades Nina to give up the unborn child for adoption, but she argues in favor of abortion because she does not want to bring a child into this world that she is not prepared to love. José takes her to his parents' house and introduces her to his family. He takes Nina into the garage and shows her his old car which, a few years ago, he reveals he had been driving with his manager during the peak of his career as a soccer player, and accidentally hit and killed a little girl. His manager frantically suggested fleeing the crime, but he instead chose to take responsibility. José was then sentenced to four years in prison forinvoluntary manslaughter.After being released, he tried unsuccessfully multiple times to reconcile with the girl's single mother, and the tragedy has since left himdepressedand suicidal.

José's parents invite Nina to have dinner, during which time she finds out that Manny was adopted. They tell her she is always welcome to stay at their house. José takes Nina to the nearby beach, where she tells him how her father's death when she was twelve caused her and her mother severe emotional pain. Because she had no siblings and spent her childhood taking care of her emotionally crippled mother, she tells José how fortunate he is to have a loving family, and hopes someday she would meet a man who loves her and is as capable of raising a family as her father was. The next day, before they each go their own way, Nina says she needs a friend to be there for her the next week. José walks back to the restaurant and reconciles with Manny.

Several years later, José is seen playing on a beach with a young girl. When Nina arrives she meets what is implied to be her daughter, Bella, whom she had considered aborting but then gave over for José to adopt. Mother and daughter exchange gifts, Nina tearfully giving Bella the teddy bear her father had gifted her as a child, while Bella hands Nina a seashell. Afterward, all three stroll down the beach together.

Cast

• Eduardo Verásteguias José
• Tammy Blanchardas Nina
• Manny Pérezas Manny
• Ali Landryas Celia
• Ramón Rodríguezas Eduardo
• Angélica Aragónas José's Mother
• Ewa Da Cruzas Veronica
• Alexa Gerasimovich as Luchi
• Sophie Nyweide as Bella
• Herbie Lovelleas The Blind Homeless Man

Production

Bellamarks the feature directorial debut forAlejandro Gomez Monteverde,who co-wrote its original screenplay with Patrick Million.BellafeaturesManuel Perez,Angelica Aragon,Jaime Terelli,Ali LandryandEwa Da Cruz.The film was produced by Sean Wolfington,Eduardo Verastegui,Leo Severino,Alejandro Gomez Monteverde,and Denise Pinckley. Executive producers were J. Eustace Wolfington, Sean Wolfington, Ana Wolfington andStephen McEveety.It was financed by producers Sean Wolfington and Eustace Wolfington.

Stephen McEveety, producer ofBraveheartandThe Passion of the Christ,consulted on the script; after the film was finished, he signed on as an executive producer to help market it.Bellais McEveety's first release under his new companyMpower Pictures.

Bellawas produced by Metanoia Films.LionsgateandRoadside Attractionsacquired United States distribution rights to the film and released it on October 26, 2007.

Reception

The review aggregation websiteRotten Tomatoesgives the film a score of 44% based on reviews from 66 critics, and a weighted average of 5.5/10. The website's critical consensus is, "Critics labeledBellaas a simplistic and mostly pedestrian, but positive word of mouth gave this tiny indie surprising theatrical legs. "OnMetacritic,the film has an average score of 47 out of 100 based on 18 reviews from critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Robert Koehler ofVarietywrote, "with its storyline based on such inexplicable behavior,Bellais seriously behind the dramatic eight ball, and trusts that the effective chemistry between the two leads will help auds ignore the many narrative potholes. "Stephen HoldenofThe New York Timessaid in a less favorable review, "ifBella(the title doesn’t make sense until the last scene) is a mediocre cup of mush, the response to it suggests how desperate some people are for an urban fairy tale with a happy ending, no matter how ludicrous. "

Roger Ebertof theChicago Sun-Timesgave the film 3 stars out of 4, describing it as: "a heart-tugger with the confidence not to tug too hard." He concluded his review by writing, "the movie is not profound, but it's not stupid. It's about lovable people having important conversations and is not pro-choice or pro-life but simply in favor of his [Verástegui] feelings -- and hers [Blanchard], if she felt free to feel them. The movie is a little more lightweight than the usual People's Choice Awards winner at Toronto, but why not? It was the best-liked film at the 2006 festival, and I can understand that."

Bellaresonated withadoptionandanti-abortionorganizations, who gave the movie high marks for its purported pro-adoption themes.

Awards and honors

Bellatook the "People's Choice Award" at the 2006Toronto International Film Festival.

Bella won theHeartland Film Festival's Grand Prize Award Winner for Best Dramatic Feature and the Crystal Heart Awards for Monteverde as writer/director/producer.

Bella's filmmakers received theSmithsonian Institution's "Legacy Award" for the film's positive contribution to Latino art and culture."This movie depicts the culture but also transcends it," said Pilar O'Leary, executive director of the Smithsonian Institution's Latino Center. "It has universal appeal."

Bellareceived the Tony Bennett Media Excellence Award.Bennett saidBellais "a perfect film, an artistic masterpiece that will live in people's hearts forever."

Bellawas listed by theUnited States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office for Film and Broadcastingon their list of the top ten films of 2007,noting thatBellapresents an "affirmative pro-life message", along with "themes of self-forgiveness, reconciliation and redemption that should resonate deeply".

The director ofBella,Alejandro Monteverde, was given the "Outstanding American by Choice"Award at aWhite Housereception forBella's positive contribution to Latino art and culture in the United States.Monteverde was also invited to join theFirst LadyLaura Bushin her private box to watch theState of the Union address.

The Mexican Embassy honored the film and gaveBellaa screening at their annual Cinco De Mayo celebration.

Bellabroke the record for a Latino-themed film in total box office earnings and box office average per screen for films released in 2007. It was the top-rated movie onThe New York TimesReaders' Poll,YahooandFandango.The Wall Street JournalsaidBellawas "the fall's biggest surprise" and stated that "after only four weeks in releaseBellahas total sales of $5.2 million. "Bellaended its U.S. theatrical release with more than $10 million in domestic box office, finishing the year in the top 10-grossing independent films of 2007.

Home media and adaptation

Lionsgatereleased aDVDversion ofBellaon May 6, 2008.The same date,Thomas Nelsonpublished thenovelizationof the film, written by Lisa Samson. (ISBN978-1595546081)

References

This article incorporates text fromthe official site,licensed underGNU Free Documentation license.

External links

• Official website
• BellaatIMDb
• BellaatRotten Tomatoes
• BellaatBox Office Mojo
• Bellaat Yahoo Movies