Good Life, The (2007)
Comedy | Drama

Tagline: He's finally had enough.

Stars Mark Webber, Zooey Deschanel, Chris Klein, Bill Paxton, Drea De Matteo and Harry Dean Stanton are at their best in this thoughtful, searing portrait of life in the all-American, football-obsessed Midwest. Jason Prayer (Webber) doesn't care about football, but that's just one reason he doesn't fit in. To escape his dead-end existence, he retreats into classic old movies... until he meets the beautiful and mysterious Frances (Deschanel). But when Jason learns that Frances isn't as she appears, he makes some drastic decisions in the explosive climax of this drama about one man's search, against all odds, for The Good Life.

User Comment: Adam Donaghey from United States, 29 November 2007 • Given there's already quite a number of reviews of The Good Life--it did play at Sundance, after all, I'm not going to discuss the plot of the film, except to briefly say that it's a film about the suffering and isolation of one man, Jason, in a town he's trapped in for all the wrong reasons. He is surrounded by deceitful and manipulative individuals who do nothing but bring him down and pull him further and further into desolation. That is, except for his one true friend, Gus, an old man who owns a neighborhood theater. The film deals with themes and perspectives and actions viewers don't typically find appealing on screen--and it is largely depressing. Reviews are mixed for this film, as to be expected. Some find the film hopeful or inspiring at the end--I just see it as survival.

The well-fleshed out characters in this gloomy tale are all impressively played. Mark Webber's performance as Jason is incredibly riveting and believable. As for Chris Klein, I agree with some critics who believe this might be his best role yet. Zooey Deschanel manipulates me into loving her once again. Bill Paxton's character is quirky and odd and gay, and Bill pulls it off perfectly. Gus, however, is probably my favorite character. I kept looking over at Harry Dean Stanton, who gives a heartfelt performance as a dying man, wondering, as the film progressed, how he felt watching himself play this character--at his age--and how it effects him. Of course, he's far more active than Gus...

(on my blog there was a picture of Harry Dean waving his hands in the theater at the audience, announcing "I am not a crook.")

Professional skateboarder Stephen Berra has written and directed a truly important film, built on decent story and cemented together with remarkable performances from the actors. Berra's portrait of small town America manufactures a painful environment which grabs the viewer by the throat. The film doesn't necessarily say anything new or even profound for that matter, but it's certainly an emotional experience I won't soon forget.

Summary: An important film about one man's struggle to survive in an environment of deceit and manipulation.

User Comment: Kelly from Dallas, 25 March 2007 • 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.

Summary: A very good film.

User Comment: Siamois from Canada, 19 December 2009 • 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.

Summary: The get-out-of-small-town story.

[CSW] -3.1- The Good Life as a title for this movie is steeped in irony as it tells a story about a young man who can't grow hair who's stuck in a cold Nebraska town that looks abandoned and desolate (despite the college football team and local news broadcasts in the backgrounds). Working two jobs as a gas station attendant and a theater projectionist just doesn't cut it when attempting to pay a $400 electric bill...meanwhile he wallows in misery thinking about his dead father and a troubled childhood, as well as trying to help the theater owner who has lost his wife, and most of his relationship with memory and consciousness. Suddenly, along comes this beautiful woman into his life who questionably insists they are soul mates, who loves him and leaves him. It's as if the entire movie and every look on this poor man's face is designed to insinuate how terrible his life is...and just when it seems like he's going to commit suicide, he hops on a bus and his voice-over spins the story as if he really loved that bitterly cold, sad, painful, bruised, teary life. And although it feels contrived to have watched a movie that forces depression down your throat for an hour and a half only to find out that somehow through this guy's eyes it has all been a series of the most uplifting moments that anyone has ever lived, it is worth it if you realize that what you take from life is more important that what life gives you.
No D-Box.

º º