Diane Bell explores women, class and violence in her sophomore effort, BLEEDING HEART

TrustMovies must admit that watching BLEEDING HEART, a new film written and directed by Diane Bell, can often seem like a stretch. Overall though, this is the kind of stretch that's good for you -- rather like that of the palm tree able to bend with the wind instead of breaking in two. Also, it stars two good actresses, one of whom, Jessica Biel, I go out of my way to see in just about anything she does. Ms Biel, along with Jake Gyllenhaal, even saved David O. Russell's Nailed (aka Accidental Love) from total obscurity.

Filmmaker Bell, shown at left, has tackled a disturbing set of subjects -- including feminism, class, violence; parentage, prostitution and yoga; drugs, friendship and love -- and then created a scenario in which all these come into play. If this occasionally makes for a few more contrivances and coincidences than we might wish, the movie still manages to work well enough to get us to its crackling and seemingly inevitable finale. In addition to the unusual situation Ms Bell has set up and the pretty decent dialog she's put in the mouths of her cast, it's that cast itself that does the movie proud, helping carry the film to fruition, while forcing us to consider all the problematic possibilities along the way. Once set in motion, and given the characters on view, the plot here can pretty much go only in one direction.

Early on in Bleeding Heart, one of our two heroines, May, played by Biel (above), hones in on the other one, Shiva, played by Zosia Mamet (below). We soon learn why, and the reason will probably prove either the deal-breaker or the deal-maker for most viewers. It becomes, in any case, the force that drives May onwards, pushing through Shiva's attempts to stall or derail it,

and leading to further and further confrontations with Shiva's pimp boyfriend (well-played with a smart combination of intelligence, style and ferocity by Joe Anderson), below, left). The only important remaining cast members include Kate Burton (as May's cold, adopted mom), Edi Gathegi (as May's business partner/boyfriend) and Harry Hamlin as a wealthy "john."  Each is first-rate, offering a performance that adds luster to the proceedings.

Finally it is Ms Bell's concept and execution that, despite its occasional overly-schematic feel, brings the movie home. It is bracing to see a film that attempts to meld feminism, class and violence with nature and nurture. And Biel and Mamet make a fine pair of protagonists: bouncing off each other believably and with the necessary finesse, offering up character arcs that move in opposite directions, bringing these two very different women together in an inseparable way.

Bleeding Heart (nicely ironic title, that!) -- from Gravitas Ventures and running a swift 80 minutes -- after being available On-Demand and Digitally since early November, opens in a very limited theatrical run this Friday, on the date, at the theaters, and in the cities shown below.

Bratt brothers' LA MISSION opens: conventionality raised to a high level indeed

When a movie, especially a small independent film, appears conventional in its approach to the material at hand, our critical establishment has a tendency to dismiss it. This is too bad, particularly where a movie like THE MISSION is concerned. Written and directed by Peter Bratt (shown below) and starring his brother, the better-known Benjamin Bratt, the film is indeed conventional in some ways.  It tells the tale of a Latino widower who labors as a San Francisco bus driver (the film is set in the city's Mission district, which has a long and storied Hispanic past) who is raising a good-looking and popular teenage son.

Rather than dwell on plot development (and spoil one of the movie's initial surprises), let's talk instead about why the conventional is sometimes a smart way to let a film unfurl.  This will bring in a wider audience, of course, but also, if the movie is handled well enough, it can allow that audience the opportunity to grow a bit.  If you are able, as has been filmmaker Bratt, to write dialog quite well -- sounding off-the-cuff but also specific and often amusing -- and to effectively link one theme (Hispanic machismo) to another (violence against women) to another (homophobia) until everything is not just connected but very nearly inextricable, then you are doing your job very well.

Further, when you are able to create a scene involving the movie's leading "villain" (at least as close as the film comes to having such a character) and then make that scene so powerful that it upends our very notion of "villain" and forces us, as it does its main character, to re-think and re-feel to the point of actual change, this, I submit, is plain wonderful movie-making.  As good as so much of Bratt's dialog is, this climactic scene is done without a word being spoken and is all the better because of it.  This is powerful, meaningful stuff, and in no way any longer merely "conventional."

Filmmaker Bratt has also done a fine job of casting his film, beginning with brother Benjamin (above) -- an actor I've always enjoyed, who is as good here as he has ever been.  From his initial scene driving the bus, we know the character is a decent guy.  But soon we see him struggling with his macho aspect, where women and gays are concerned.  Bratt's struggle -- one step forward, two steps back -- is handled very believably, with the actor using parts of his emotional self that I don't recall his showing us till now.

In addition to the angst on display, we also get a lesson in "lowrider" car culture -- which is fascinating fun. And the supporting cast -- from Erika Alexander (above) as Bratt's neighbor and possible love interest to Jeremy Ray Valdez (below) as his son "Jes" -- is first-rate. If the symbolism gets a little heavy at times, the emotional power the film wields never slackens. By the time the end credits roll, you'll have lived through quite a journey.

La Mission opens this Friday, April 9, in New York City and throughout the greater Los Angeles area, and in  San Francisco the following week.  Click here for all theaters and playdates thus far.