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The Good Life

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The Good Life (2007)

20%
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20 %
Reviews Counted: 5 Fresh: 1  Rotten:4 Average Rating: 4.2/10

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The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins

Synopsis: In the cold, small-town heartland that has always been the defining state of mind for America, there are two worlds. There is a community whose focal point is the football team, and there is the alienated existence of the kid who doesn't fit in. In The Good Life, a debut feature that is remarkable... In the cold, small-town heartland that has always been the defining state of mind for America, there are two worlds. There is a community whose focal point is the football team, and there is the alienated existence of the kid who doesn't fit in. In The Good Life, a debut feature that is remarkable for its maturity and sophistication, filmmaker Steve Berra unerringly sketches a portrait of life in these environs that is at once full of torment and hope. Jason Prayer (Mark Webber) works two jobs, struggles with his uncaring family, is tortured by a bully, and in general is quietly suffocating in the provincial insularity of his town. Other than that, the local cinema, which is literally on its last legs -- as is its aging operator, Gus (Harry Dean Stanton) -- is Jason's one escape and window to the outside world. But when he is courted by a mysterious stranger (Zooey Deschanel), his desperate life takes a turn. As a response to the lessons of Capra-corn in It's a Wonderful Life, and with a nod to The Last Picture Show, Berra offers a ray of light in these dark times -- a modern vision about the contradictions of small-town life. -- © Sundance Film Festival [More]

Genre: Comedies

Starring: Mark Webber, Zooey Deschanel, Bill Paxton, Harry Dean Stanton, Chris Klein

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1 - 5 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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As a director, Stephen Berra makes this all quite palatable, but as a writer, he frequently mistakes platitudes for profundity.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/28/08
Luke Y. Thompson
OC Weekly
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3/5

You just can't go from darkly morose to uplifting and hopeful in the last 30 seconds of the film without any kind of arc to take you there.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/09/07
Kim Voynar
Cinematical
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B-

Grounded in the rich cinematic tradition of Small-Town America, the film doesn't break much new thematic ground, but it's well-acted by the entire ensemble, which consists of both pros and young thespians.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/31/07
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
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N/A

While The Good Life is stylistically ambitious and heartfelt, it feels more forced than authentic.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/30/07
James Greenberg
Hollywood Reporter
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2/5

The film spends what seems like interminable hours driving home the brutal truth that the world is better off without Jason Prayer, and, despite the anemic flip-flop of the last twenty seconds, it's hard to disagree.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/25/07
Jamie Tipps
Film Threat
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