Biutiful (2010)

I did not love this movie, but it is well worth a watch, especially if you are one who likes to dance dangerously close to overdosing on the trajedy of the human condition. The story of Uxbal (Javier Bardem), a single father with terminal prostate cancer and the burden of a life without stability, is soulful, tragic and made with loving care. Bardem injects an appropriate amount of pathos into his performance, and is amazing. The movie is gritty and gloomy, and it is hard to know exactly how to recommend it, but it is well worth the 150 or so minutes it takes to watch it.
Uxbal lives on the margins of criminality in Barcelona. He manages a group of African immigrants who sells fake designer purses made by Chinese immigrants in a shoddy little factory. The movie captures the sense of the cyclical trap these characters are in. They depend on each other, even though no one is exactly dependable. A young Chinese mother watches Uxbal's daughter and young son while he's out hustling on the street—-they're all just barely staying on the treadmill....And getting off isn't a choice. Uxbal, given just a couple of months to live in the film's first few minutes, is desperate to provide for his children without coming up with any reasonable solutions. The mother is not an option--she is the personification of narcissistic unreliability. There are no relatives--no grandparents and his brother is snorting cocaine and partying with hookers. Uxbal is so obviously in need of help that I felt the overwhelming urge to leave a meal for him, despite the separation provded by the screen.
There is a magical realism that is typical of Latin movies--this was the least moving part of the movie was my least favorite part--though it may have great appeal for those who believe in the afterlife. The part I found most compelling was that Uxbal has someone who tells him he is dying that he needs to get his life in order, and despite that, because of the state of his life, he hasn't even told his children by film's end. Tragedy is well represented here.