You think Mondays always get you down? Well, try being a Spanish shipbuilder past your prime who just lost your job, because the work has been moved to another country even though all of the young guys were taking over anyway. Those are the woes of Oscar nominee Javier Bardem (Before Night Falls) in this bleak, yet hopeful, tale.
Set on the coast of Spain, it's beautifully shot, and director Fernando León de Aranda allows us into these men's hardships--and into their bar, where they try to find solace at the bottom of a whiskey glass. This small, slow-ish tale is held together by another large performance by Bardem, who brings the film's potent realism alive. No, you're not going to walk out of this one with a smile on your face, but you're going to be happy that you saw it.