Bella Movie Review

Over the summer I had heard about the upcoming release of a film entitled Bella. I was told that that it was a pro-life movie and that it had actually won the People's Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival. Last August, producer and actor in the film, Eduardo Verastegui, made a guest appearance on popular EWTN show Life on the Rock discussing his conversion from being a mostly non-practicing Catholic to his journey home to Rome. He was a soap opera star in Mexico and was lost in the glitz of stardom, but through his mother's prayers and his English tutor's challenging words Eduardo discovered what was truly important. I yearned to see this movie but it was (and still is) released in a limited amount of theaters. Over Thanksgiving break my family and I went on vacation to Branson, MO. My mom surprised me by asking if I wanted to see Bella. I didn't know that she had even heard of the movie. Apparently it was playing in my hometown while I was away at college. Previously, I had prayed for the privilege of viewing the film and I knew that this was the answer to my prayer. So my mom and I drove to Springfield to see it and we are glad that we did. Nina, an unwed waitress, finds herself pregnant and her boyfriend is for aborting the child. To make matters worse she is fired from her job for her multiple tardies and her boss doesn't believe that she was truly sick one day. He thinks that she was actually hung over, but Nina was experiencing morning sickness. To promote life the writers could have gone in multiple directions with this. The film could have been preachy, judgmental, etc. Surprisingly enough, the movie doesn't do any of these things. We as an audience feel compassion for Nina, who had difficulty enough just living on her small salary at the restaurant. A chef named Jose from where she used to work, leaves the restaurant to come to her aid. He merely becomes her friend; listening to what she has to say, spends the day with her, and treats her to dinner with his family. Nina grows to trust Jose and through this friendship love their lives change. Both pro-choicers and pro-lifers will be challenged by this movie. Pro-choicers will ponder on their previous position and pro-lifers will consider how loving is the key to changing people. The main message is love in Bella. As the movie website says, it's a love story that goes beyond the romance between a man and woman. This theme of love can be applied to evangelizing. Everyone longs for it and is incomplete without it. Through loving we can reveal what being a follower of Christ is all about and the walls of defense around their hearts will collapse. As my mom put it, the movie is different in that it's for widescreen audiences. Bella isn't about any part of Christ's life or the life of a saint, so it draws attention and appeal to many faith backgrounds and views. Despite its common ground though, the Catholic faith isn't ignored. One seen involves Jose and his family praying before dinner and the film itself opens with the quote, "My grandmother told me that if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans." (By the way if this is true I must be Robin Williams.) Most likely, Jose's displays of love are motivated by his faith. On another note Bella is a great film for Hispanics. Eduardo, who plays Jose commented on how Latinos are typically portrayed in films. The men are usually portrayed as criminals, thieves, drug dealers, and if they are handsome then they are Don Juan casanovas who are womanizing liars. "You never see a Latino as a hero- not a hero like Superman or Batman or any of those guys; a man of integrity, a man who sacrifices for his wife or children, a good citizen that serves his country." Eduardo and his fellow associates who made Bella, resolved to portray Hispanics in a much more positive light and kept their promise. Looking back at his past, Eduardo realized that back when he was a Mexican soap opera star, that he was feeding the negative stereotype in the media, and even became a womanizer himself. The man who was (and still is) regarded as Mexico's Brad Pitt, decided to turn his life around and has a profound new respect for women. He wanted to present women more favorably in this film as well, after all he said, he had a wonderful mother and three sisters. Bella is truly a magnificent treasure. You'll laugh, possibly cry, and be hungry for Puertorican/Mexican food afterwards. This is now one of my favorite movies of all time. I'm considering it for the number one spot on my list. At the moment, it's showing in a limited amount of theaters, but the requests for the movie keep coming in. To find out where it's being shown go to http://bellathemoviesite.com/.