Review: ‘Bella’ offers a fresh drama of a day

By John Rieping
The Madera Tribune

“You’re not running now,” called out the teenage boy seated on the sidewalk beside a buddy as I walked out of Madera Cinema 6 late Sunday. I had passed them on my way in less than two hours earlier.

“I was late before but the movie’s over now,” I said.

“Which movie did you see?,” he asked.

“Bella,” I said. “It was really good. It takes place all in New York over 24 hours and it really captures the New York vibe. It doesn’t feel like a Hollywood cookie cutter movie at all. It just … sort of unfolds around you. I don’t want to say more because that would spoil it.”

“Is it like a soap opera?,” he asked.

“Yeah, kind of. It’s a drama about two people and its romantic, but they don’t get … ‘romantic’ with each other during it,” I said. ” It would be a good movie to take a chick to though.” Inside I grimaced wondering if anyone even calls women “chicks” anymore, which isn’t a word I normally use either.

“Would it be a good movie to make out with a girl?,” he asked.

For an actual movie review of “Bella,” see The Madera Tribune on Wednesday (Dec. 12).