"Biutiful" takes place in grimy and crowded parts of Barcelona that are a world away from that city's tourist attractions. Uxbal is a midlevel mobster, in charge of Chinese sweatshop workers making counterfeit watches and bags, and the African vendors who sell them. He collects and dispenses money, and runs interference with the cops. He also has two young children, a mentally unstable former wife, and a terminal illness. He is trying, despite his...

Jimmy, known to his friends as Rabbit, is a young man trying to make his way out of the burned-out shell of inner-city Detroit. Rabbit is a white kid trying to make music in a predominantly African-American community and culture. After Rabbit freezes up in the midst of an MC battle, he's convinced he's missed his chance and that he's doomed to lead a marginal life as a factory rat for the rest of his days. With the help of his friends, and his new...