A group of men with little left to lose turn to a football pool in a bid to turn their lives around in this drama from Spain. Angel (Jorge Bosch) is a genial loser who, like many of his friends, has fallen on hard times. Angel's pals Paco (Santiago Roamos) and Andres (Manuel Alexandre) barely support themselves by selling snacks outside football stadiums, and Paco will soon have to support a new addition to the family, as his teenage daughter is pregnant. Things are even worse for Juan (Juan Jesus Valverde); out of work and drinking heavily, Juan has learned that his wife Esther (Lola Duenas) has become a prostitute in order to support the family. One of the few bright spots in Angel's life is his uncanny knack for picking the winners at the weekly football matches, though he never bets money on the outcome of the games. Angel is convinced that actually placing a wager would jinx him and he'd be certain to lose, but his friends are convinced otherwise, and Paco hatches a scheme to raise $2,000 to put Angel's talent for prognostication to work. Terca Vida was the first feature film in 15 years from director Fernando Huertas, who made his debut in 1985 with El Elegido.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide