Bella

Executive Producer Steven McEveety (Braveheart, We Were Soldiers, Passion of the Christ) has put his efforts behind another sure winner, (this one without Mel Gibson)and with newcomer director/writer Alejandro Gomez Monteverde, and a cast of relatively unknown actors.

This is an intelligent and emotional film, with the action interwoven between flashbacks and the developing plot line. Because of this storytelling method, it is nearly impossible to give much detail of the story without a spoiler.

The movie centers around Nina, a young, unmarried waitress at a Mexican restaurant who finds herself pregnant and out of a job after coming in late to work several days because of morning sickness. Jose, the restaurant's chef, is taken by Nina's plight and becomes her sole confidant. Jose helps her walk through her decision on what to do with her pregnancy. In the process, he bears secrets from his own mysterious past, which reveal his tenderness and passion for her and the child she is carrying.

The film stars Eduardo Verastegui (the Mexican Brad Pitt), and Tammy Blanchard, each performing in only in their second movie role. They are excellent both individually and in their interactions with each other. You're sure to see more from both of these rising stars.

A believable script, quality acting, and effective cinematography, music, and sound kept my attention from start to finish. I had no expectations from this film and came away truly impacted--A very powerful piece of cinema. No wonder this rookie work shocked all the big name pictures to win the top prize at Toronto Film Festival.

Latest word is that it is set for release in April 2007. And don't be surprised to see this one in the running for one or more Oscars.

I went to the Toronto Film Festival and was looking forward to seeing J-lo's new flick as well as Brad Pitts and Sean Penn's new films as I heard one of those were probably going to win the Oscar bound Peoples choice award at the festival.I screened this unknown movie Bella in Toronto at the Film Festival because I was given a ticket to see it. After seeing the film and participating in a standing ovation with everyone else who saw it and being almost as moved by the touching Q and A afterwards I remember leaving that theater thinking that in a just world that film and those producers would walk away with every award...when I found out that it actually did...that it beat all those other films and that it is now on Oscar's radar I actually felt good about the world in general and the movie industry in particular.

I was astonished after seeing the film Bella. I was impressed, inspired, uplifted and sobered all at the same time. The film is powerful and thought provoking. Each scene blends perfectly into the next creating and weaving an intricate and detailed story without being self indulgent. The actors make choices that are simple yet powerful. Every character lets their humanity show in a way that causes the audience to fall in love with them throughout the course of the movie. Both the story and the characters are realistic and every scene of the movie is packed with truth. Audiences can see aspects of their own lives and situations in every scene of this masterfully composed story.

I had the privilege of seeing "Bella" at the Toronto Film Festival and was amazed by this beautiful love story! After i heard the buzz about this little film i decided to go see it with out knowing what to expect and i was blown away. Actually, i think it is best to see this film without knowing anything about the story. A lot of people were surprised when Bella took the top prize at Toronto except for me and the other people who saw the film. Our screening ended in a standing ovation and the Q&A went so long that the moderator had to cut it off. The performances were incredible and the directing was remarkable. It was a powerful experience with a lot of unexpected twists and turns... especially the ending. It is amazing that this little film beat out all of this years Oscar hopefuls to get the most coveted Award at Toronto but it could not have happened to a better film. Congrats!

I thought this was a surprisingly-good "chick flick" until the final 15 minutes when it got ultra-weeping "Lifetime Network" on us, but overall is a film which should appeal to a lot of people. Yes, it's pure melodrama but: ladies, it's so well done that it should keep your husband or boyfriend interested most of the way.

This also is beautifully photographed. Man, for a small-budget independent film with basically no-name actors, this has all the visual slickness of a Spielberg film. Also, the food in here looks so good it will have you salivating.

The main ingredient in this award-winning film is "charm," I would think. Everyone is pretty likable, there's a lot of emotion and the characters are very realistic. If you elaborated on the story, it might sound extremely boring because mainly it's a day in the life of two people. They both work in a restaurant and she gets fired for being late again and he goes after her to see if she's okay. As the day goes on, the two work out past traumas with the ending being a tear-jerker feel-good one.

For a film in which most viewers probably aren't familiar with the director or the actors, it is impressive. What's odd about this film, in addition to being interesting despite almost nothing going on, is that there is absolutely no profanity or sex, either. I suppose some could look at this movie as some sappy do-gooder type story, but it isn't. It's so professionally done that you kind of feel like a fly on the wall, content to just observing and being a part of these people's lives for a day.