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Movies / On DVD / The Sea Inside
The Sea Inside

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The Sea Inside (2004)

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Reviews Counted:126

Fresh:105

Rotten:21

Average Rating:7.5/10

Consensus: Critics are hailing Alejandro Amenabar’s portrait of a man who chooses to die as Oscar-worthy, powerful and life-affirming, in its way. However, some have called it melodramatic and manipulative.

Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for intense depiction of mature thematic material.

Runtime: 2 hrs 5 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:11-02-2005

Synopsis: Javier Bardem gives a remarkable, unforgettable performance in Alejandro Amenabar's gripping drama about dying with dignity, THE SEA INSIDE. Thirty-five-year-old Bardem plays 55-year-old Ramon... Javier Bardem gives a remarkable, unforgettable performance in Alejandro Amenabar's gripping drama about dying with dignity, THE SEA INSIDE. Thirty-five-year-old Bardem plays 55-year-old Ramon Sampedro, a Galician who broke his neck as a young man and has spent more than a quarter of a century as a quadriplegic, confined to bed. Reflecting on his past and considering his future, he chooses to die, petitioning the courts for permission to be euthanized. His radical decision sets off controversy throughout Spain--as well as in his own house, where his family and friends all have different opinions on the fate he has chosen. While Ramon's father (Alberto Gimenez) and brother (Celso Bugallo) refuse to help him die, and his nephew, Javi (Tamar Novas), tries to understand his uncle's decision, Ramon is surrounded by women who virtually fight over him--Rosa (Lola Duenas), a single mother of two who visits him to talk about her difficult life; Manuela (Mabel Rivera), his sister-in-law who takes care of his daily needs; Gene (Clara Segura), who works for the Death with Dignity organization; and Julia (Belen Rueda, in a powerful film debut), a married lawyer with a secret of her own. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2004 Venice Film Festival, THE SEA INSIDE is a special film with marvelous acting, a strong soundtrack, a moving story, and an enchanting visual style that features poetic shots of the countryside as Ramon dreams he can fly. [More]

Starring: Javier Bardem, Belen Rueda, Lola Dueñas, Mabel Rivera

Starring: Javier Bardem, Belen Rueda, Lola Dueñas, Mabel Rivera, Celso Bugallo, Clara Segura, Tamar Novas, Francesco Garrido, Joan Dalmau, Jose Maria Pou

Director: Alejandro Amenábar

Director: Alejandro Amenábar
Screenwriter: Mateo Gil, Alejandro Amenábar
Producer: Fernando Bovaira, Alejandro Amenábar
Composer: Alejandro Amenábar
Studio: Fine Line Features

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Reviews for The Sea Inside

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81 - 100 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

This film balances moments of dreamy spirituality with the salty harshness of family disputes.

Full Review Source: Premiere Magazine | comment Comment
12/20/04
Kevin Allison
Kevin Allison
Premiere Magazine

Bardem still manages to fill the room with his presence, and he deeply moves us with his portrayal of this man who's learned "to cry with a smile".

Full Review Source: Montreal Film Journal | comment Comment
12/20/04
Kevin N. Laforest
Kevin N. Laforest
Montreal Film Journal

You want to like Ramon and what’s more you want Ramon to like himself.

Full Review Source: CinemaBlend.com | comment Comment
12/20/04
Joshua Tyler
Joshua Tyler
CinemaBlend.com

Far from being a standard-issue tearjerker...the picture rises above its generic roots to emerge as a powerful human drama.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
12/20/04
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

Javier Bardem is the heart of this movie and he gives a great, screen-filling performance.

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
12/20/04
Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper

Javier Bardem turns in an Oscar-worthy role as a paralyzed man fighting for the right to die.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
12/19/04
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

There's a combination of fatalism and hard-edged humor at work in The Sea Inside that you can imagine Irish writers would feel right at home with.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
12/18/04
Charles Taylor
Charles Taylor
Salon.com

For the most part, the film stays steady-on, celebrating one man's crusade -- and one family's heartbreak.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
12/18/04
Steven Rea
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer

In the end, The Sea Inside is a beautiful, rippling mirage shrouding an empty husk of misplaced emotions.

Full Review Source: IGN Movies | comment Comment
12/17/04
Spence D.
Spence D.
IGN Movies

Despite a score by the director himself designed expressly to nudge viewers in the direction of catharsis, I never really felt anything.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
12/17/04
Michael O'Sullivan
Michael O'Sullivan
Washington Post

Amenabar avoids passion and mess, but he hits his lesser mark -- plain dignity.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
12/17/04
Nelson Pressley
Nelson Pressley
Washington Post

The result isn't an easy film, but it is rewarding.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
12/17/04
Ethan Alter
Ethan Alter
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Focuses on life, not death, and in doing so establishes the sanctity of individual ownership of an existence.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
12/17/04
Carla Meyer
Carla Meyer
San Francisco Chronicle

This is a sublime drama, one that, for all its concern for Sampedro's struggle for death, is truly a celebration of life.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
12/17/04
Pam Grady
Pam Grady
Reel.com

It's still just a soap opera, wrapped around an argument. And it's one we've heard half-a-dozen times before.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
12/17/04
Stephen Whitty
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger

Based on a true story, the movie has abundant humor and uplift -- but it's a heartbreaker of extraordinary dimension.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
12/17/04
Jami Bernard
Jami Bernard
New York Daily News

The film is based on a true story, but that doesn't stop Amenabar from inventing certain characters and incidents to further his tearjerker agenda -- and court Oscar voters, who love this kind of high-toned schmaltz.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
12/17/04
V.A. Musetto
V.A. Musetto
New York Post

Bardem gives Sampedro enough vulnerability, fear and touchiness to keep the character's limp feet on the ground.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
12/17/04
Bob Strauss
Bob Strauss
Los Angeles Daily News

Bardem's infinitely nuanced and heartfelt portrayal provokes introspection -- and Oscar chatter. Oh, yeah, and plenty of tears.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
12/17/04
E! Online
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The movie invites us to decide if we are pleased or not. I agree with Ramon that, in the last analysis, the decision should be his to make: to be or not to be.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
12/17/04
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
81 - 100 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
all

Latest News for The Sea Inside

July 11, 2006: Natalie Portman Will Do Naked in Next Film
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International acting stud Javier Bardem and well-rounded movie director Mike Newell are about to bring the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Love in the Time of Cholera" to the... More...

December 16, 2005: London Movie Critics Present Their '05 Nominations
Movie City News shares with us a press release from the London Film Critics Group in which their various nominations are announced. Keep in mind that the Brit crits use their... More...

April 20, 2005: Bardem & Portman to Discover "Goya's Ghosts"
Javier Bardem ("Before Night Falls") and Natalie Portman ("Closer") are in final talks to star in the bio-pic "Goya's Ghosts," says Variety. The... More...

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