Movie Review

The Sea Inside

Death is a very depressing subject as we have come to realize, but in Alejandro Amenabar?s new film, "The Sea Inside," it is also the very definition of freedom. The film tells the true story of Ramon Sampedro (Javier Bardem), a quadriplegic forced to live every day motionlessly lying in bed who campaigned for his own right to die. The film says a lot about human dignity, which is a timely issue considering our own president?s stubbornness to support science that may one day eliminate the need for this form of suicide. Only where this film falters is that it ultimately can?t avoid becoming a soap opera.

Sampedro became the victim of a tragic diving accident that broke his neck, forcing him to live on a farm with his brother Jose (Celso Bugallo) and his wife Manuela (Mabel Rivera). Over the years Manuela took to caring for him with all the love a mother would show to her baby infant, which brings about feelings that run the gamut from gratitude to embarrassment. He is a prisoner trapped in his own body, and the way he must live is both sad and demeaning. It should come as no surprise that the man wants his own death.

So he enlists the help of Julia (Belen Rueda), a lawyer who Ramon hires to help plead the case that he deserves death by euthanasia. Ramon has an ulterior motive in hiring her, however. She, too, has a disease that makes living impossible and Ramon wants to use that to make her understand how he feels. A romance even blooms between the two. There is also another woman named Rosa (Lola Duenas), a single mother who has had a bad run with men. She sees sensitivity and warmth in Ramon and wants to be with him.

"The Sea Inside" has an aerial dream sequence that is out of this world and the final scene is also really effective. But sadly, the rest of the movie is grim, sentimental, and dull. It tries to make Ramon look like a champion of the sick, but in actuality he seems more like just another victim. Javier Bardem's performance is based solely on sad whimpering and encouraging "I'm going to win in the end" smiles. That isn't enough to give Ramon hero status by any stretch of the imagination. This movie uses him and the issue of death for nothing more than to gather up audience and Oscar sympathy. Some characters want to die, but family members would rather have them suffer than die, while others could really care less. It?s just a forum for a lot of shouting, crying, and depression that leads to a predictable conclusion.

The far more interesting film here would have been to focus on the government officials deciding between moral law and human dignity. I can only hope that when Christopher Reeve?s movie is made (and you know it will be) that it tackles this issue and leaves the melodrama far behind.

Craig's Grade: C

A	10.9%
B	41.8%
C	31.8%
D	15.3%
F	0.3%