Biutiful

(2010)

Directed by

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

Review by Terry Plucknett

Posted - 2/14/11

There are always random surprises when the Oscar nominations are announced early some random morning in January or February.  This year was no different.  One of the biggest surprises to come out of this year’s nomination lists was Javier Bardem making the Best Actor list over actors such as Robert Duvall (Get Low) and Ryan Gosling (Blue Valentine).  Once I heard of this surprising nomination, I became curious to see this performance to see if he really deserved this spot, or if it was simply the Academy awarding the recent winner with another honorary nomination which they have a tendency to do.  In addition to this, my curiosity was also heightened by seeing Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu as the director, making this his follow-up to the amazing multiple storyline, award show darling, Babel.  So was it deserving to be Inarritu’s much anticipated follow-up?  Was Javier Bardem worthy of his Best Actor nomination?  The answer to both questions is yes.

Biutiful tells the story of Uxbal (Bardem), a man involved in some shady business plans while raising his two young children that finds out that he is dying of cancer.  His business deals get him involved with paying off cops, supporting illegal African immigrants attempting to deal drugs, and helping maintain a sweat shop factory of illegal Chinese immigrants.  These last two business deals are told through a similar multiple storyline format to what was used in Babel.  Every step along the way, Uxbal was trying to do the right thing, as long as he made some money off it along the way.  Throughout the film, we see Uxbal try to keep up a “business as usual” approach with his business associates while dealing with the demons of knowing that his children will grow up without a father much like he did.  In fact, he barely remembers his dad who died when he was his daughter’s age, and that scares him.  He tries to reunite with his estranged bipolar ex-wife so his children would have at least one parent in their lives when the cancer finally overcame him.  The combination of Uxbal’s public life, personal life, and inner conflict lead to one of the most complex and fascinating characters of the year.

This movie revolves around Javier Bardem and his brilliance.  He shows that he is one of the best actors in the world no matter what language he is speaking.  As you see his life fall apart around him as his body falls apart, you can see definite stages to his despair that draw you into the character and take you on the ride with him.  It starts at an indifferent denial and slowly moves throughout the film to acceptance, climaxing in a heart-breaking scene where he says good-bye to his young daughter while he still has the energy to do so.  This progress is seen even in the subtle alterations in his relationships with those around him, including his ex-wife brilliantly played by Maricel Alvarez.

Although Bardem gives a tour-de-force performance, there are some flaws that bothered me throughout the film.  I know Inarritu had a lot of success in the multiple storyline genre with Babel, however here it does not work quite as well.  This story is all about Uxbal.  It starts, ends, and revolves around him.  However, Inarritu branches out into his multiple storylines by focusing on some of the minor characters Uxbal deals with on a daily basis such as the African family that illegally sells on the street corner and the Chinese bosses of the sweat shop factory.  However, with the simple concept of the film, and the obvious focus of the film being on one character, the multiple storylines end up being more distracting than enhancing.  If Inarritu would have stayed away from this tactic in this film, it would have been much more focused, tight, and effective; shortening the running time from the two and a half hours it currently has.

The other flaw I found with the film is the distracting timing of the score.  Again, this is another surprising flaw considering Inarritu’s history of utilizing music to enhance his films in the best way.  However, as was the case with the multiple storylines, it came off as distracting instead of enhancing.  There were some scenes where the music came in at such an awkward time with a portion of music that was so random and wrong for the scene it appeared in, it honestly made me start looking around the theatre for who left their phone on.  It was that off and distracting from what was happening on the screen.

Although I did have my complaints about the filmmaking, the story and performances, especially from Javier Bardem, made this film very worthwhile.  This film could have been great, but due to these few odd choices by Inarritu it was just good.  It is very much worth seeing for Bardem’s performance alone.  In a year of dominating male performances by the likes of Eisenberg, Firth, and Franco, Bardem’s performance definitely deserves to be considered part of this elite group.  It further validates the fact that Javier Bardem has become one of the strongest actors working today, regardless of nationality.

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