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A Beautiful Life (2008)

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From Time Out New York

When a film reveals the irony of its title during the opening-credits montage, it’s a safe bet that what follows won’t be a study in subtlety. Clichéd and formulaic, Alejandro Chomski’s intersecting-lives drama, set on the mean streets of Los Angeles, features a teenage runaway (Sarafyan), a Chinese stripper (Bai) with the requisite heart of gold and a Salvadoran illegal-immigrant busboy (Garcia). Hinging on a single plot point that’s made painfully clear during the first blurry flashback, A Beautiful Life has no surprises, save Bai Ling’s midfilm musical performance.

Author: Andrew Grant 2009-09-29 21:32:46

Time Out New York Issue 731: October 1 - 7, 2009

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