The past 12 months has been a particularly fertile one for Hollywood films about unplanned pregnancy. And that made me wonder whether the lo-fi, Mexican-American production Bella might buck the trend for so-called “pro-life” messages. But it seems even indie movies these days can't risk showing a woman actually having a termination, perhaps for fear of audience backlash.
Set in multicultural New York City over the course of a single day, this has Nina discovering she's pregnant and arriving late for her waitress job. Her money-grubbing boss, Manny, has had enough and – not realising her condition – he fires her.
Manny's brother – the solemn chef Jose – walks out with Nina in sympathy and, for the rest of the movie, these two hang out, visit his vibrant family, discuss her future and his tragic past.
Bella is so minimal it might've been better as a short film. The performances are natural but the characters are too thin.
With his Jesus beard and saintly demeanour, Jose is a misty-eyed martyr because of a mistake he made back when he was a professional soccer player.
Nina, meanwhile, is one of those characters who has no real relationships because she exists only as a scriptwriter's conceit.
The question that hangs over Bella is whether she'll have an abortion. For a while Bella tries to make us think it's going somewhere new, so it's annoying when we realise the filmmakers have cheated a little.
Bella's predictability might not aggravate so much if the emotions didn't become mawkish as the film progresses, and if the redemption didn't border on the religiously ridiculous.
For me, watching the highly acclaimed Bella was like one of those times you have to visit someone else's baby and you just don't see what all the fuss is about. Bella rates two and a half stars and is cinemas now.
