Biutiful

Javier Bardem tries to bridge the gap between this life and the next

by Emma SimmondsSunday, 23 January 2011

Javier Bardem as Uxbal, the centre of 'Biutiful''s troubled universe

Alejandro González Iñárritu’s stunning, painfully sincere - if somewhat laborious - latest is a heartfelt paean to fatherhood, built around an agonising escalation of misery. It is bolstered by a mesmerising performance from Javier Bardem as a terminally ill man experiencing physical deterioration alongside spiritual elevation, who bridges the gap between this life and the next.

Bardem is hypnotically hangdog and wears his guilt, conflict and medical prognosis like a five-stone overcoat

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