Photo by: poptower.com

Javier Bardem (Best Supporting Actor, “No Country for Old Men”) leads “Biutiful” into the Oscars this year with a Best Actor and Best Foreign Film nomination.

“Biutiful,” a story of a father’s love for his children, is favored to take home the Best Foreign Film award, while Bardem’s superb performance will give Colin Firth (“The King’s Speech”) a run for his money.

Director Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu (“21 Grams”, “Babel”) hits his mark with this tale about a man named Uxbal (Bardem) and his undying paternal love. The father is involved in crime in contemporary Barcelona and is fighting for his life. He has been diagnosed with cancer and is told that he only has a couple months left to live.

While Uxbal tries to get his affairs in order, his ultimate goal is to provide his children with a secure future. He knows that his ex-wife and mother of his children, Marambra (Maricel Alvarez), is not suitable to take care of their children because of her bipolar disorder. She is lost in the undertow of society wandering the streets as a prostitute at night in a mental haze.

During his search for safety and security for his children he realizes that an African woman by the name of Ige is the perfect mother exemplified by her great love and care for her baby.

However, life just isn’t that easy. Uxbal is involved with a lot of the wrong people and even though he is a good man and a great father one mistake almost ruins his life. His only aspiration is to help people, however, in doing so he perhaps causes more harm than good.

Bardem completely embodies the heart and soul of Uxbal allowing him to fully connect the audience to his physical and mental pain and suffering.

There is no greater story about a father’s love for his children so perfectly crafted, brilliantly balancing a very depressing story with happiness. Uxbal’s struggle with coping with his inevitable death and seeking forgiveness within himself leads to the bigger picture of things. A father’s love for his children is nothing less than “Biutiful.”