BELLA

Every now and then, a film comes along which affects you so little, it's hard to even form an opinion about it. An outcome which was somewhat surprising in this instance, given that Bella had won the People's Choice Award at Toronto Film Festival, and yet less surprising if you remember the fact the film was originally made in 2006 and has only now secured a UK release. The film stars Tammy Blanchard, certifiable cross between Lili Taylor and Hilary Swank, and Mexcian Eduardo Verástegui sporting the most off-putting beard since Joaquin Phoenix's monstrosity. Verástegui is in fact very, very good, as is Manny Perez who plays his brother, both working well to create a credible and touching dynamic between the characters. It helps that the highlights of the screenplay are shared between the roles, but Perez and Verástegui deliver perfectly. Tammy Blanchard does her best with what she's given, but as the character is more than under-developed, her ability to cry on cue very, very well, seems something of a wasted effort. What really spoils the film, however, is the last 5 minutes. Until this point, the film, in my opinion at least, is paced well, with the switches in time fitting well with the plot. The ending however is infuriating. Amid an outpour of more tears from Blanchard, the viewer is left wondering what on earth happened in the intermittent 5 years. And not in a mysterious, done on purpose kind of way, more in a "we've cut out the montage telling you exactly why these two characters appear to not have seen each other in 5 years despite being new best buds and why Verástegui decided to trim his beard perfectly to the same annoying length without ever feeling the need to get rid of it all together". It really is a shame, too, as until that point the film had all the potential to be perfectly competent and touching, if not a little bland around the edges.
I'll give it a begrudging 3/5 simply as a congratulations to Verástegui for carrying the film alone.