There are always performance-driven movies bubbling under the surface come awards time and both Biutiful, a showcase for Javier Bardem, and Barney's Version, which features Paul Giamatti, fall into that category. Both rely heavily on the acting power of their leading men and, in a weaker year for memorable male performances, both gentlemen would easily find themselves in the acting winner circle. Although there's little doubt that this is the year of Colin Firth, whose work in The King's Speech has aced just about every acting award there is to ace ( with the final big prize, the Oscar, just on the horizon ) , hopefully that won't keep audiences from seeing Bardem and Giamatti add to their acting resumes. [ Editor's note: Bardem received an Oscar nod Jan. 25 for Biutiful. ]
Aside from witnessing two top-drawer thespians, interior actors both, give it their all, the movies themselves—highly distinct from one another—will also reward audiences looking for something off the beaten path.
First up is Biutiful, from Mexican writer-director Alejandro González Iñárritu, making his return to cinemas for the first time since 2006's masterful, passionate global drama Babel. Inarritu's canvas is much smaller this time—he focuses exclusively on the world of Uxbal, a small-time criminal in Barcelona, involved in a series of vice activities ( from drugs to importing illegal workers to construction sites ) . Unlike his ruthless business partners ( who include a younger brother ) , Uxbal has a conscience and tries to bring a touch of dignity to his illegal dealings.
Meanwhile, the mother of Uxbal's two children is struggling with various addictions and so he's also shouldering the responsibility of raising his two kids alone. At the outset of the film we discover that Uxbal, who has a lot of dependents, is suffering from an incurable illness with only weeks to live and we follow him about as he desperately tries to put his affairs in order and take care of those around him.
Inarritu's subject matter is increasingly bleak ( with plot strands that are also increasingly melodramatic ) and Barcelona has never looked so dingy ( he has purposely avoided the city's signature, picturesque locations ) but he has also written a complex character—a criminal with a conscience—that was made to order for Bardem's moody, "still waters running deep" acting style and, with his famous smoldering eyes and good looks ( even in his desiccated state ) , he's deeply affecting. The actor, who carries the film on his shoulders ( along with all those dependents ) , essays a portrait of a man who long ago learned to compartmentalize his intricate day-to-day existence.
As the film progresses and the screws tighten, Bardem's quiet desperation, frustration, remorse, anger and persistence are palpable. Just as things seem to be under control, tragedy strikes and Uxbal is sent reeling once again. But he still manages to find solace and lightness in brief moments—always with his children—and these beautiful scenes give the deeply heavy subject matter a welcome respite.
The lyrically crafted, deliberately paced film is dedicated to Inarritu's father. It is a credit to both his writing and Bardem's intuitive acting process that finally frees the title of the film—Biutiful—from its inherent sense of irony. Gustavo Santaolalla ( an Oscar winner for Brokeback Mountain ) contributes another one of his simplistic yet bittersweet guitar-based scores that pervades the film and is another striking addition.
On the other end of the scale is Paul Giamatti's title character in Barney's Version, adapted by director Richard J. Lewis from the novel by Mordecai Richler ( with a screenplay by Michael Konyves ) . Barney Panofsky is an extremely disaffected man whose bitterness and self revulsion are palpable from the movie's onset. The story is told in flashback as Barney, a Jewish television producer of a long-running soap opera in Montreal, looks back over his life. He begins with youthful abandon one summer in Rome with his two best friends—a course that unexpectedly leads to his disastrous first marriage.
A second marriage to an even more unsuitable candidate ensues. This character, an amalgamation of every stereotype of a Jewish princess, is only referred to as "the second Mrs. P." ( and is played with relish by Minnie Driver ) . The bitterly funny wedding scene—a carbon copy of those in Lovers & Other Strangers and especially the original version of The Heartbreak Kid—is seen from Barney's acerbic point of view and almost all the characters are met with his usual level of disgust. Exempted from that are Barney's handsome, hippie-ish, writer friend Boogie ( Scott Speedman ) ; his equally profane but emotionally loving father ( Dustin Hoffman, who gives the role his all ) ; a friendly bartender who keeps Barney's glass filled and keeps him up on the hockey game score ( one of his few passions ) ; and, especially, a vision in blue named Miriam Grant ( Rosamund Pike ) .
Eventually Miriam, through Barney's doggedness, will become the third Mrs. Panofsky and for years ( the film includes two children seen as young adults ) the couple live a fairly happy life. At a certain point, however, life throws several more roadblocks in Barney's path ( including a possible murder charge and Alzheimer's ) .
The movie is episodic; really only works in fits and starts; and is filled with stereotypes rather than characters ( and fritters many of these away, which is part of the point but still… ) . We also never get much beyond the calm exterior of the long suffering, placid Miriam ( who Pike gives a pretty yet monotone voice that is perfect for her job as a radio interviewer ) . But Giamatti, who has made a specialty of taking hard-to-love characters ( beginning with American Splendor on through Sideways, etc. ) and somehow made these miscreants loveable, has worked his magic again. His acting sleight of hand in Barney's Version may be his toughest character reclamation job—and his most successful—since the truly troubled man he essayed in the little-seen but memorable indie The Hawk Is Dying.
Both Bardem and Giamatti give it their moody, difficult best in these two offbeat films but is it sacrilege to suggest that it might be nice—for variation's sake—to watch both actors try out characters that aren't quite so enthralled with walking on the dark side of life?
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