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By John Rieping

Tammy Blanchard and Eduardo Verastegui star in a scene from "Bella," which is now playing at Madera Cinema 6.

Photo by: For The Madera Tribune

Leading man Eduardo Verástegui ("Chasing Papi") drives and talks in a scene from "Bella," an independent film playing at Madera Cinema 6.

Photo by: For The Madera Tribune

Emmy Award-winning actress Tammy Blanchard ("Good Shepherd") waits in a scene from the drama "Bella."

Photo by: For 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 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 (a man and a woman) 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.

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We converse with strangers, co-workers and others far more often than we usually care to remember. Sometimes the encounters may amuse or annoy, but they seldom loom large in memory. Yet "Bella" is an independent film that captures the ordinary meetings of life in an extraordinary way.

Without fanfare or an advertising blitz, "Bella" opened at number one in its genre a few weekends ago despite only showing on 165 screens. It won the "People's Choice Award" at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, the "Legacy Award" from the Smithsonian Latino Center, the "Crystal Heart Award" from the Heartland Film Festival, the "Tony Bennet Media Excellence" award and the "American by Choice" award from the U.S. immigration department.

Of course the movie isn't set in little Madera like my own encounter retold above, but features rather the urban bustle of the Big Apple, which along with food is as much a character in the film as any other. Yet it stars with a low key grace that actually allows you to glimpse persons instead of just people. It forces you to slow down and look around without putting you to sleep, which was underscored for me by the frequent chuckles of one particular spectator sitting rows behind.

"Bella" is a story that breathes with a life of its own.

The acting feels unexpectedly authentic with an excellent performance by its co-stars, Emmy Award-winning Tammy Blanchard ("The Good Shepherd") and 33-year-old Mexican-born Eduardo Verastegui. Formerly a telenovela (soap opera) hunk and latino pop singer, Verastegui is now an A-List movie star south of the U.S. and according to the L.A. Times is the "Brad Pitt of Latin America." He played a lead role in the 2003 comedy "Chasing Papi" and has also appeared on "CSI: Miami," "Charmed" and other TV shows.

Actors Manny Perez ("Third Watch," "Law & Order," "CSI: Miami," "El Cantante" and "Yellow") and Ali Landry ("Felicity," "Pensacola," "Popular," and "Beautiful") also play indispensable and movingly realistic roles in the film.

For those who dislike subtitles, be forewarned that they appear on occasion in "Bella" but they never felt intrusive to me. Most of the movie is in English but there are still many parts, including some of the most charming, in Spanish with English subtitles.

The style of "Bella" is modern but still unpretentious and in some ways more natural than most movies. For some viewers the use of flashbacks and flashforwards with only minor cues may initially confuse, but there are enough differences in the appearance of the scenes that it isn't too hard to figure out which sight is from the past, present or future. And anyone who watches many movies of the latest style probably won't even blink in puzzlement at the transitions.

As for the plot, you'll have to see it for yourself to find out ... and I highly recommend it, whether as a date movie or simply as one of the freshest dramas this reviewer has seen in a while.

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"Bella" is rated PG-13 for adult themes and disturbing images, and is showing at Madera Cinema, as well as Manchester Stadium 16 in Fresno and Regal Movies 8 in Clovis. For information, visit http://bellamoviesite.com/theater/category/ca-fresno/

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John Rieping News Editor, Webmaster The Madera Tribune online subscription To subscribe or log on, CLICK HERE. For more information first, CLICK HERE.