Review by Rockwell_Cronenberg

Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu directed three films before "Biutiful", and all three of them had essentially the same positives and negatives. On one hand, the man really knows how to create a scene. From the intensity that surrounded "Amores Perros" to the unique, riveting and eye-opening night club scene in "Babel", each of his films were filled with incredibly memorable moments. He also brings a lot of emotional heft to each work. Albeit sometimes in cheap, manipulative ways, the man has never failed at bringing some tears to my eyes in each of his pictures. "Biutiful" is no different in either of these aspects. However, it also succeeds where Innaritu's previous films had failed. His other films are far too bogged down with these silly, contrived stories of one event having a drastic impact on a slew of characters. "Biutiful" is his first film without Guillermo Arriaga writing the script and, as a result, there's none of those silly gimmicks that Arriaga flooded his previous pictures with. He keeps all of his strengths as a director and got rid of the flaws that hit his films from a screen writing standpoint.

What we end up with is a powerful picture that centers on one character, played phenomenally by Javier Bardem. Bardem's performance here is one of grace, bravery and pure authenticity. It's rare for a portrayal to not have a single false note in it, but this is one of those rarities in cinema. From the moment we are introduced to him, Bardem feels absolutely real. The entire film truly feels as though we are just experiencing this man's life with him and while sometimes that can be slightly dull, it never feels artificial. Along with this powerful driving performance at it's core, the film has some of the most beautiful images of the year, emotionally hitting relationships between Bardem's character and his two children and another stirring performance by non-actor Maricel Alvarez. Innaritu has created a film that is heartfelt and real, keeping the power and grittiness of his previous pictures and erasing those things that dragged them down.