A Better Life

I am so grateful to have been born a Canadian citizen and to be living such a good life. My heart breaks when I read about illegal immigrants trying to make a better life for their family. It was totally heartbreaking. The film is emotional and well produced.
The location is Los Angeles and we are constantly confronted with the dichotomy of the wealthy landowners and the migrant Mexican workers.
Carlos is a loveable hard working Mexican. He lives with his son Luis in a 1 bedroom ramshackle house. He sleeps on the couch and gives his non appreciative son the bedroom. Everything he does is for his son. Luis is bordering on a life with gangs and is not appreciative of his father’s hard work. Every day Carlos does landscaping for a boss who takes advantage of him. He climbs the tallest palm trees with inadequate harnessing. He works long hours and is so tired in the evening he falls asleep on the couch with his clothes on.
Meanwhile his son is acting up at school and spending time with the wrong kids. The gang culture is all around.
Carlos buys his bosses truck with money loaned to him by his sister. For a short time he smiles and is happy. Now he is the boss and picks up daily laborers to work in the landscaping business. His dream is to move to a better neighborhood for his son.
The Mexicans live in a rundown area of town. On a wall I noticed a sign reading,” Too many Mexicans. Not enough bullets,”
When a pickup worker steals his truck his luck goes down hill very fast. He tries to steal his own truck back and lands up in a prison as an illegal immigrant.
It was a painful portrait of the life probably faced by thousands every day. Carlos had one goal to enrich the life of his son. In the end it was to no avail.
It was such a sad ending and only too believable. Obviously there are two sides to every story. One can sympathize with the problems faced by the legitimate landowners. This film does a superb job of painting a realistic picture of a hard working illegal immigrant.