Biutiful

"Biutiful"
Starring: Javier Bardem, Maricel Alvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella
Directed by: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Mexico/2010
147 minutes

In Biutiful, Javier Bardem plays Uxbal, an emotionally weathered and spiritually gifted (he can communicate with the dead) father of two who is diagnosed with cancer as the film opens. Uxbal and his two kids Mateo and Ana live in an apartment in Barcelona, where Uxbal lives as both a criminal dealing with a ring of Chinese immigrants, while also trying to raise his kids. Uxbal's estranged wife Marambra, (Alvarez) comes in and out of their lives with promises of being a good mother and wife. One minute she's around and the next she's sleeping with Uxbal's brother.

Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is working from a script he co-wrote himself. The role of Uxbal was specifically written for Bardem, and the actor garnered an Oscar nomination for the performance.  Inarritu's films all have the same makeup. Pain, suffering, life, and death all mesh together to wear down its audience. Biutiful however is Inarritu's most hopeful film, but even Biutiful has the signature Inarritu stamp of tragedy.  All of his previous films contained the same narrative makeup with multiple characters each having an affect on one another's lives. Inarritu would like to think he's ditched this familiar trope, as Biutiful mainly follows the arc of Uxbal. It's a bloated narrative, one juxtaposing Uxbal as criminal and loving father.

Taking place in the seedy underbelly of Barcelona, Biutiful offers a shallow and predictable commentary on globalization and the treatment of illegal immigrants. When he's not being paid to communicate with the dead, Uxbal is benefiting from a sweatshop and a small drug dealing ring that makes him good money. His crooked walk and uneasiness informs us that he's been at this for a long while. Inarritu has shaped this character with the mystique of a tainted savior. He's a great dad, but his shortcoming's stand out just enough to make us weary of his plight. Javier Bardem is the sole reason that this film barely stands on two feet. Uxbal's face is a rugged pillow for grief and despair, two more trademarks that Inarritu infuses throughout all of his films.

As the film moves at a nice pace, and finally slows down in the last hour, Uxbal zeros in on who he is and the legacy that he will leave behind. Biutiful is at its best when it's not throwing desperate situations at the wall and seeing what sticks. The quiet moments between Uxbal and his kids are what work here, and even though they work effectively, they come into play way after Inarritu has already dragged the viewer through the film's hollow core. Biutiful is ultra heavy on symbolism, and light on humanizing moments.There are patches of good film making here, and one can't deny that the film was shot nicely by DP Rodrigo Prieto. In the end, while Uxbal is an intriguing character, the world which he lives in isn't very interesting. Sadly, Inarritu doesn't have much to say other than to show us a portrait of a dying man's last days and the children he will leave behind. There's simply too much material to warrant Inarritu as a credible screenwriter. His former collaborator/screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga may have done justice to the script, but each are anything but subtle, a quality that Biutiful clearly doesn't possess.

Grade: 2.5/5