Apple has debuted the official trailer for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Biutiful, which will be released by Roadside Attractions on December 29. It’s a film I saw at Cannes and believe serves as a definite Oscar nomination possibility for Javier Bardem who stars as Uxbal, a man involved in illegal dealing is confronted by his childhood friend, who is now a policeman. However, that description of Uxbal is a dramatic oversimplification.
Like all of Inarritu’s films, this one wallows in misery, but the film is book-ended beautifully that adds a little light to an otherwise dreary tale. The film is certainly going to cater to the art house crowd before anyone else as I detailed in my review out of Cannes, and doesn’t bode well for major box-office, but should Roadside secure Bardem as an Oscar contender it may do well in a limited run.
Strangely, the film suffered from mixed reviews out of Cannes, many critics pointing toward the downer nature of the film as a drawback. This makes me wonder if any of those critics actually watched Inarritu’s other critically acclaimed films. Because I wasn’t exactly getting rainbows and cupcakes out of Babel, Amores Perros or 21 Grams. While this film certainly paints its protagonist into a dark corner, the film itself is Inarritu’s most redemptive. You can read my full review from Cannes right here.
I have added the trailer directly below and you can read the full synopsis and browse a few images from the film right here.
