Biutiful (2010) review

Dreary tale of a black marketeer (Javier Bardem) who is diagnosed with cancer and 'has to come to terms with his own life,' which means skulking around in a depressive fog, caring for his kids, trying to reconcile with his prostitute ex-wife and trying to straighten out his 'business' problems (illegal labor, a constant police presence, etc.). Here's the issue: I don't really feel Bardem's character 'learns' much from confronting death: he's ethically corrupt but he has a good side to him, and the guilt and regret just pile up and up and up, and as Bardem beats himself up for misdeeds, so the film seems content to contribute to the abuse. It's brutal, but never enlightening. The afterlife apparently looks like Alaska.