Friday, Dec. 17, 2004
The Sea Inside
You couldn't me pay to see this movie, if you told me the bare plot: that it's the tale of a middle-aged man, paralyzed in a diving accident, who decades later petitions the state for the right to end his miserable life honorably. But wait. Alejandro Amenbar, after the pyrotechnics of Open Your Eyes and The Others, finds a spare, direct style to match the plangent material. And Javier Bardem, a safe bet for an Oscar nomination, invests heroic power and delicacy in a man who believes that "living is a right, not an obligation." Still not persuaded? All right, I'll pay you to go. Don't be surprised if you refund the gift, with interest and thanks.