Am I Missing Something?

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Innaritu's movies leave me speechless every time. Too overwhelming to grasp.Mere silence remains to describe the power of Biutiful... I am sorry but I just am so in awe of this movie and so emotionally torn that words are failing me...Written, produced and directed by Allejandro Innaritu.(Birdman, Babel, The Revenant) Co produced by director Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity) and director Guillermo del Toro (Pans Labyrinth, The Shape of Water).These 3 directors are a match made in heaven: in these very days they are the masters in sculpting the most intense inner and outerbody experiences in their unfathomable brilliant pictures. They are comparable in excellence to the greatest american directors:Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppala and Stanley Kubrick.

I've come to notice that Iñarritu likes to show perspective in characters. It's almost as if he feels guilty for not showing all the people involved in the story. But that's not to say he has no focus. This movie definitely made me feel depressed and every movement felt painful. I liked the subtle hints of the paranormal, they're shown as something natural for the characters, a twist of magical realism for such a melancholic movie. There's this moment where the protagonist tells his ex-wife to drop down the cigarette, however, when she's smoking in the dinner table again, he says nothing. Those seconds lingering on the shot give an entirely different meaning to the scene. Perhaps he's tired, perhaps he's said enough. Biutiful manages to make one feel awful as they watch the character's life, guilty as they see him in agony and, for the very first time in my case, the film makes death seem peaceful. Because maybe it really is.

Unlike 21 Grams and Amores Perros, Inarritu deviates from the 4 lives - 1 story line - and completes his "Death Trilogy" with the story of one man, Uxbal, who touches many lives in some way shape or form, and appropriately is able to sense the dead and help them pass on safely to the after world. Uxbal is not perfect. Although you can tell he has a heart of gold, he makes a living helping illegal immigrants find work, always with his cut of the pay. Although for the most part, people trust him and turn to him for help, sometimes his good intention land him in trouble. Biutiful is all about paradoxes. The title is the Spanish phonetic spelling of "Beautiful" yet most of the film is set in the lower income, gritty neighbourhoods of Barcelona. Uxbal uses his ability to ease the dead of their debts in life and sort out their affairs, yet he struggles with settling his own affairs. Even his relationships with other people are paradoxes - he is obviously not completely okay with her promiscuity, yet he understands - he is harsh and strict with his son Mateo but does not stand for his wife's physical abuse of him - but his most important relationship is one with himself. He reconciles this by learning to let go, learning to let the universe take care of everything, as Bea, his healer confidante, had told him.Biutiful is a beautiful film, but it is not perfect. There are some plot holes that are left unanswered (for example, whether the Chinese immigrants receive justice for their death, whether Uxbal's grief is ever really atoned). I think these unanswered questions are left open to interpretation though, as that seems to be Inarritu's style in these type of films. A great watch, although dark and at times deeply depressing, there is a small glimmer of hope at the end of the film - and I think that's what important to take away from this. Despite everything, life is biutiful.

Biutiful is director Alejandro González Iñárritu's attempt at recapturing the sense of drama his Death trilogy (Amores Perros, 21 Grams and Babel) had. Expectations were high not only because of the success of the aforementioned films, but because it had been four years since Babel first graced the big screen. Unfortunately Biutiful doesn't fully recapture the magic of Iñárritu's previous efforts and this may simply be because of Melodramatic Overload. Iñárritu always had a knack for compelling drama, but his films never became melodramatic to the point that it turned me off. Biutiful pretty much reached that point. If you thought Detachment was depressing, wait until you revel in the quagmire that is Biutiful.We follow Uxbal (played by Javier Bardem) as he tries to make a living for himself and his kids in Barcelona. He has separated from his wife due to her bipolarity and alcoholism, so his kids have no mother; his only immediate family is his brother who works in construction; he earns money by finding work illegal immigrants and managing a group of people who sell fake designer goods; he's diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer and he can talk to the dead (with which he earns some money on the side when taking to the recently deceased on behalf of others). To provide further plot info would be to enter spoiler territory, but the above should give you a clear indication of what you can expect: tragedy.What works is Bardem's magnetic performance which is what convinced me to watch the film from beginning to end and the cinematography which capture Barcelona in a way not seen on postcards, in all its depressive beauty and dreariness. Those who were enamored by the nighttime Tokyo imagery in Babel, will find a lot to like. Also interesting is some of the camera-work during scenes involving the afterlife. The first time Uxbal walks into a room and the camera slowly pans to reveal a man clasping onto pipes on the ceiling with what can be described as an intense look on his face… Iñárritu should try his hand at horror, that's all I'm saying. Perhaps the film's highlight is the subplot involving his ex-wife. Despite her bipolarity and alcoholism, she and Uxbal try to repair their relationship and take care of the kids, until Uxbal realizes (again) she cannot be entrusted with this task, despite what she says.Overall, I think Iñárritu reached the limit of what the audience could take in terms of melodrama. Though reception was positive, in no way did it equal his previous efforts. With Babel, there was an overarching point and a sense of dramatic beauty that this film's title fails to deliver. Although Iñárritu's films deal with themes of death (hence the supernatural element in Biutiful) and mortality, Babel had more to offer (the theme of communication overcoming cultural barriers). Crucially, Biutiful lacks this 'positive element'. It feels more like a melodramatic downward spiral, as opposed to Babel which – despite all the drama – still offered a positive world-view, because it showed human suffering is universal and it is the point where cultural barriers fade away. It's unsurprising that Iñárritu's next film, Birdman, will be part drama and part comedy, which will be interesting to say the least.