It seemed to exude more energy into its pretenses than the actual story.
Comment
03/06/01
Rate this Movie 
Before Night Falls (2000)
74
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work
Reviews Counted:94
Fresh:70
Rotten:24
Average Rating:6.8/10
Consensus: An impressionistic, fragmented look at Reinaldo Arenas, Before Night Falls' imagery manages to evoke a sense of the writer's artistry, and Bardem's strong performance holds the film together. Finally, a biopic done well.
Runtime: 2 hrs 13 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Dec 22, 2000 Limited
Box Office: $2,768,814
Synopsis: The life of Reinaldo Arenas, an exiled Cuban homosexual writer, is chronicled in an adaptation of his memoir BEFORE NIGHT FALLS, directed by Julian Schnabel (BASQUIAT). Javier Bardem (in an... [More]
Starring: Javier Bardem, Olivier Martinez, Johnny Depp, Sean Penn
Director: Julian Schnabel
Get This Movie
Reviews for Before Night Falls
Achieves a kind of visual poetry, rhapsodic and turbulent.
03/02/01
It's a struggle not just to make art but to exist, which is itself an art. And to that goal, the cast members, led by the astonishing Bardem, allow themselves to be devoured by the roles they are playing.
02/23/01
Top CriticThough Schnabel's first picture, Basquiat, was notable for its excess and self-indulgence, the filmmaker shows restraint and maturity in this moving depiction of Arenas's life and loves.
02/23/01
Top CriticSoulful, deeply moving.
02/23/01
Consistently intriguing and surprisingly entertaining.
02/23/01
The best American movie since American Beauty.
02/23/01
Top CriticOscar-nominated Javier Bardem gives one of the year's best performances as Arenas.
02/23/01
Although it’s sometimes slow-paced and mostly unassuming, Before Night Falls is the sort of movie that can change one’s view of the world.
02/21/01
A visually arresting, well-acted biopic that would be better in Spanish.
02/17/01
Top CriticIt's memorably etched in the viewer's mind through Bardem's complex portrait of a besieged but unbowed man.
02/16/01
[Bardem's] riveting performance as Arenas helps compensate for the filmmaking and storytelling deficits.
02/16/01
Bardem is so compelling in the central role that Before Night Falls emerges as a testimony to the human spirit.
02/12/01
The main reason to see Before Night Falls is Bardem, one of the few modern actors with real animal appeal and the guts to show it.
02/09/01
Top CriticA trip to the bookstore to pick up Arenas' memoirs might be a better decision than seeking out this miscalculated character drama.
02/07/01
Click to read the article
02/07/01
Bardem hasn't the charisma to bring variety to Arenas or his plight.
02/07/01
Top CriticClick to read the article
02/07/01
[Bardem] gives it his all here, but he is simply unconvincing as either gay or an artist, and is ultimately uninvolving as Arenas.
02/07/01
Schnabel has fashioned a dense, emotionally satisfying portrait of a man, a time and a place.
02/07/01
Latest News for Before Night Falls
February 17, 2006:
Newell & Bardem Come Down with "Cholera"
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...
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...
RT On Current TV
What’s Hot On RT
Fresh Links
Featured
Best Sci-Fi This Decade 
Techland lists the best Sci-Fi films of this decade.
40 Worst Films of the 2000s
Moviefone takes a look back at the biggest stinkers of the past 10 years.
10 Questions For Zac Efron
The Me and Orson Welles star answers reader questions on TIME.com.
Best Decade Ever!
Hollywood.com's C. Robert Cargill offers his thoughts on what the best decade for film was.
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure
In the AV Club's "Scenic Routes," Mike D'Angelo reminisces about the Tim Burton film.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!
IGN RSS Feeds