Julian Schnabel's biopic of gay Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas (Javier Bardem) is an oddly dry, diffuse take on a life given over to politics, poetry and pleasure. The scattershot plot follows Arenas from persecution under Castro's regime into exile and death, via flushed encounters with police, typewriters, lovers and a capaciously bottomed Johnny Depp. The big plus is Bardem's wonderful Oscar-nominated performance.
DVD Extras:
None. Before Night Falls is fine as a haphazard but ripe hymn to sensual intrigue, but it loses its emotional and political puff in the bitty plotting. And given that Schnabel makes a muddle of conflating Arenas' lust life with his politics, the lack of illuminating extras is not just disappointing but infuriating.
