redrobin62-321-207311 I really wanted my rating to be 7.5, but since there are no points, an 8 it is.There were many things to like about this film - Javier Badem's acting, as a matter of fact, everyone's acting, the cinematography, the score, and production values.What, to me, makes a film stand apart from others is you get introduced to things that you've never seen before, in this case, Desolation Boulevard, Barcelona style. It's definitely not the Spain portrayed in Rick Steve's Spain. This one is cold, brutal and unforgiving. Witness first hand how Senegalese street merchants obtain their counterfeit handbags. Witness first hand the oppressive sweat shop that is the Chinese mini-empire. Witness a gay love story in said Chinese sweat empire. Inarritu even got the bipolar aspect of the children's mother correct. That's why I live foreign films - to be exposed to scenes I'd otherwise never see in Rick Steves' or anyone's travelogue.

bnsw19 I first watched this film two years ago and it has been haunting me ever since; I watched it again last night... It's a bleak story beautifully told and there's the paradox. I consider it the second leg of Inarritu's stool of films - the first (Babel, Amores Perros, 21 Grams) was distinguished by elliptical, multi-layered story-telling and the third (The Revenant, Birdman) by a linear narrative and this one by its earthy, implicit social commentary with a touch of magic realism. What makes it such a stand-out film for me are the dialogue/script - so natural and economical - the direction and production - one smells the sweat - and, above all, the acting - Bardem delivers the performance of a life-time. He deserves to be remembered for this (and The Sea Inside) above the pastiche Bond villain in Skyfall.

Brendan Taylor It sounds like a cliché, but films like Biutiful can be life changing, if you let them be. A film that magnifies the blurriness of life, the delicate mixture between everyday duties and death, while bringing a startling yet clarifying realization of mortality. You want to grab onto the moments; when Uxbal hugs his daughter in a final embrace and she listens to her Father's heartbeat breathing the last of his life into her. But it's already gone. The moment is transfixing in its vanishing. An alchemy of beauty, love and grim despair paints the resonant shades of this film. Alejandro Inarritu's direction emotionally assails the viewer in poetic imagery and pure visual intricacies. The vivid, textural soundtrack by Gustavo Santaolalla highlights the richness of the frame. The worldly instrumentation swirls in the tangible, multicultural landscape depicted on screen. The music complements Inarritu's gritty realism: an exhibition of local Barcelona haunts, the foods, the alleyways, the pores in various shades of skin, the sounds of the underworld, etc. The synergy between composer and director forms a worldly and complete portrait. But without the lived-in authenticity of Javier Bardem's creation of Uxbal, you would only be left dumbfounded, gawking at captivating images. The actor blends into the character effortlessly, yet the internal effort is quite palpable to the viewer. You are not meant to awe at this "performance," celebrate, or even admire, you are left to feel. However this feeling stays or leaves with you. The story of this character leaves you drained, or on the contrary, uplifted by his plight and more empathetic. As Uxbal nears his end, Bardem channels vulnerability disguised as (the wise know) exceptional strength. Without Bardem, a full heart and pathos would be missing. He disarms you with his well traveled eyes and a relentless sense of humanity. Uxbal dissipates into the white mist, a character jostling between the burden of his imaginary world and the harsh reality of this one's trivial but profound beauty.

grantss Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's movies are either deep, insightful, moving works of art (eg Amores Perros, Babel) or dull and pretentious (21 Grams). Biutiful, unfortunately, falls in the latter category. It had potential (as did 21 Grams) but it soon becomes apparent that getting through it is going to be an ordeal, especially when you note that the running time is 148 minutes!The central plot could have been condensed into a tighter, more interesting, quicker-paced 90-100 minute movie. Instead it is drawn out to its maximum extent. Has its moments though, but they are few and far between.Solid performances but everyone seems to be acting in slow-motion, in keeping with the slow pace of the movie.Overall, a good cure for insomnia.