One possible reason for “The King’s Speech’s” steamroll through award season is that we needed a break. Going to the movies in 2010 was frequently a grueling experience. “The Social Network” featured a vengeance-minded, socially awkward protagonist. “Black Swan” centered on the destructive mental breakdown of a sheltered, perfectionist waif. Joel and Ethan Coen drained every ounce of sentimentality from their version of “True Grit.”
Hell, even the plastic gang from “Toy Story 3” dealt with abandonment issues and mortality. And that was for kids.
Now “Biutiful,” an Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Film, is finding its way to more screens. Directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (“21 Grams,” “Amores Perros”), it is an unrelenting exploration of life’s limitations that features a wonderful performance by Javier Bardem. But in a suddenly crowded market for poetic misery, “Biutiful” doesn’t quite offer enough to warrant paying $10 for another emotional beating.
Set in the modern-day Barcelona underworld, Bardem plays Uxbal, a street criminal diagnosed with terminal cancer who must settle his personal and professional issues before time runs out. It proves to be an excruciating endeavor. His reconciliation with his manic-depressive, bed-hopping wife (Maricel Alvarez) — done more for the benefit of his two kids than any romantic stirrings — is disastrous. Uxbal’s attempts to improve conditions for his immigrant employees don’t go as planned. But the clock keeps ticking with no chance for a do-over.
Inarritu lets the story leisurely progress, examining the nooks and crannies of Uxbal’s crumbling life as well as his associates’ struggles. The director refuses to peddle sentiment or muse on the afterlife. We just see an ordinary, deeply flawed guy try to settle his mistakes with no guarantee of a resolution. Inarritu’s unsentimental approach is not the issue here. Neither is Bardem’s lived-in, Oscar-nominated performance. Both keep you watching despite the film’s sprawl. “Biutiful” clocks in at close to two-and-a-half hours. It is so open-ended and exploratory that there are times when the movie feels more concerned about concept than addressing actual feelings. That’s a dangerous priority for any audience to be exposed to.
Flaws aside, Inarritu continues to tell compelling stories, which pretty much makes him an endangered species. Don’t forget: Despite the awards chatter, what’s playing near you is usually something that’s been retooled, remade or is based on a toy. (If you’ve forgotten, that lesson will become clear by the summer.) Creativity is still a hard quality to find, regardless of tone or timing.
Rating: W W W
| Tweet | Follow @wkdr |
|
|
