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The Good Life (2007)

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

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Critic Reviews: 1
Fresh: 0 | Rotten: 1

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Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 1,851

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Movie Info

First-time helmer Steve Berra writes and directs the finely felt coming-of-age story The Good Life, a film � clef loosely based on Berra's experiences growing up in a Nebraskan small town during the '70s and '80s. Mark Webber stars as the director's alter ego, a more or less well-adjusted adolescent who nevertheless cuts against the grain of his football-obsessed friends and neighbors. Zooey Deschanel plays a young woman in the town who befriends Webber and encourages him to celebrate his

R, 1 hr. 29 min.

Drama, Art House & International, Comedy

Directed By: Stephen Berra

In Theaters: Jan 18, 2007 Wide

On DVD: Nov 4, 2008

Warner Bros. Pictures

The Good Life Trailer & Photos

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Cast

Critic Reviews for The Good Life

All Critics (5) | Top Critics (1) | Fresh (1) | Rotten (4)

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

January 30, 2007 Comment

James Greenberg

Hollywood Reporter

Top Critic

As a director, Stephen Berra makes this all quite palatable, but as a writer, he frequently mistakes platitudes for profundity.

April 28, 2008 Full Review Source: OC Weekly

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Luke Y. Thompson

OC Weekly

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.

February 9, 2007 Full Review Source: Cinematical

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Kim Voynar

Cinematical

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.

January 31, 2007 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

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.

January 25, 2007 Full Review Source: Film Threat

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Jamie Tipps

Film Threat

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Audience Reviews for The Good Life

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Dark, but good. Really interesting movie and keeps you on your toes and thinking. I love Deschanel in her role... I swear she can pull off anything.

January 31, 2010

Leigh Ryan

Super Reviewer

ZOOEY Deschannel is really opening my eyes as a talented actress...one look in those eyes of honesty of hers holds me captivated as she goes through the script she held in this epic of a movie...being trapped in her life she found the perfect escape through the befriending and relating with Patric Fugit. This was a

April 19, 2009