The Good Life
Written and directed by Steve Berra and set in present day Nebraska, The Good Life is a movie that cares deeply about the classic cinema that came before it and recognizes, as on some level we all must, that cinema as we once knew it is dying.
As The Good Life opens we learn that, in Nebraska, football means everything – and since our main character, Jason Prayer (Mark Webber), doesn’t play football, he might not mean, well, anything. Jason works two jobs – at a gas station and, at night, at the once grand Capitol movie house, which is owned and barely operated by Gus (Harry Dean Stanton). Jason’s life becomes extremely complicated as Gus teeters on the edge of dementia while Jason is tormented by speed freak ex-football star Tad (a nearly unrecognizable Chris Klein), tentatively courted by the beautiful and mysterious Frances (Zooey Deschanel) and awkwardly befriended by Robbie (Bill Paxton), a new guy in town who loves old movies.
Steeping his film in the motifs of archetypal small town America, Berra demonstrates that he is a master of the unexpected, while Webber delivers a brave performance, the cumulative effect of which gives birth to new kind of heartland youth hero.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Steve Berra (writer-director) was 18, when skateboarding legend Tony Hawk saw him skate in the Nebraskan heartland, enlisted his services as a professional and put him up in his guest bedroom in Fallbrook, CA. While under Hawk’s tutelage, and riding for Hawk’s company, Birdhouse, Steve developed an interest in filmmaking but could hardly pursue it full time as he was on a constant rotation of world tours. Unable to shake this new found passion, Steve would forgo the parties and nightclubs often synonymous with touring, and opt to stay in his hotel room alone, teaching himself how to write and study film. Those many late nights of writing and re-writing eventually culminated in The Good Life.
Named by Transworld Skateboarding magazine as “one of the top 40 reasons skateboarding is what it is today,” Berra is still a world-renowned professional in the sport. His skill, dedication and integrity have earned him the respect of peers and fans all over the world. He boasts signature shoes and skateboards with the sports’ most prestigious brands: DVS shoe company and The Alien Workshop. Upon completing The Good Life, Steve is already back on his board and thinking of his next movie.