Biutiful

Movie: Biutiful

Cast:    Javier Bardem             (Uxbal)

            Marciel Alvarez          (Marambra)

Genre: drama
Subtitles

Synopsis: Uxbal is a poor father of two in Spain.  He has custody of his children because his wife, Maramba has an alcohol and drug problem who also likes to party a bit too much.  Uxbal makes a living by acting as a go between between illegal immigrants and employees who want to hire them.  Uxbal is often appalled by the conditions these workers are forced to work and live in and does try to help them.  When he is diagnosed with cancer, Uxbal does some soul searching while he attempts to put his life in order.

My two cents: Javier Bardem turns is a remarkable performance in this movie.  He is under never-ending stress from problems with his children, a drug-addled wife, employers abusing the workers he supplies, police raids on the same workers.  Then he finds out he has only months to live.  Bardem was amazing to watch as his character gradually starts caving in to the chemotherapy and then to the cancer.

My only real beef with the movie is its length: 2hr 27 minutes.  I think it could have been cut to 2 hours without losing too much.  That said, if for nothing else, this movie is worth seeing for Javier Bardem’s performance.

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