Biutiful (2010)
…………………………………………………
Biutiful Movie Review
Biutiful is a 2010 Spanish-Mexican drama film directed by Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu and starring Javier Bardem. It’s a solid, but overly depressing movie.
………………………………………………….
“My love, what you see over there aren’t stars.
It’s your nervous system“
…………………………………………………..
………………………………………………….
Uxbal, a career criminal, plies his trade in Barcelona’s underground sweatshops and back alleys. Unlike his associates, he has some respect for the poor workers under his thumb and is a devoted father. Told that he is ill and has just a few months to live, Uxbal tries to get his affairs in order before the spirits, with whom he communes, come to claim him.
First off, those affairs and those crime elements. I did not care for that part of the story whatsoever. It was not all that engaging, it was not well executed and it was both detourish and meandering in approach. It led to a bloated runtime and really this movie did not need two and a half hours to tell what is a simple story in reality.
What I did like was the familial aspect to it. That worked so well that it lifted the movie to the territory of solid. His relationship with his kids is wonderful, and it was great seeing a great father and a terrible mother for once. Their failed marriage and a renewed relationship was very well portrayed, both in terms of acting and in terms of emotion. Those scenes were both realistic and very effective.
Javier Bardem gave one of his better performances in this showcase role for him. This is his movie so of course he delivered. Not only in terms of dialogue delivery, but especially in the eyes which tell a story all on their own. But even though this character works so well, the others not so much, except for the ex-wife of course. But what was the point to that gay Chinese couple? It felt just like points for political correctness and nothing more than that as the two were detours in here.
…………………………………………………..
………………………………………………….
Biutiful is very well made, shot, directed and only the pacing is bad as the runtime is so bloated. The film is both slow and very unnecessary in some characters and sequences. It’s also too depressing, but sometimes its emotion was earned. And I loved how it got its title, that detail was wonderful.
Biutiful is at its best when dealing with the familial elements, but everything with the Chinese characters felt like an unnecessary detour. The film is very well acted by Javier Bardem, it features good dialogue and it is very emotional at times, but it’s also incredibly bloated in its runtime and simply needless in many of its parts.
