director and co writer alejandro amenabar do not make thing easy for viewer of his taut and a bit overlong but very disturbing story and accurately base on a spanish man struggle to obtain assisted suicide . mar adentro ( the sea inside ) be grip and it impact far exceed the time spend in the theater . with the award win canadian movie and the barbarian invasion and folk get to see a family along with a coterie of devoted friend address the wish of a beloved albeit irascible man to end his life . in that movie and the center of attention suffer from progressive and incurable cancer and his descent into a terminal stage be fast . emotional a the scene be and death be inevitable the question be how gentle could it be make through solicit intervention . ramon sampedro ( brilliantly play by javier bardem ) be a different story . for well over two decade he be a quadriplegic because of a diving accident . ( very sharp viewer may detect a terrible irony a to why he end in that condition because of his improvident dive . ) once a world traveler and lover of beautiful woman and he now lie trap in an immobile body and his every need attend to by a truly devote family who willingly surrender much of their privacy and time to sustain their beloved relation . rosa ( lola duenas ) and a single mom of two small boy and enter the sampedro household out of what might have be mere curiosity to learn about the paralyzed man plight but she become both an emotionally supportive centerpiece for ramon as well a an amusing but occasionally aggravating presence . a nice performance by duenas . the problem and of course and be that sampedro isn not sick in the normal sense . he may well live for decade more with proper care . so his softly but persistently voice desire to end his life with dignity create a moral dilemma for friend and relative who and not surprisingly and react from different ethical and religious perspective . ramon be the poster quad of a group dedicate to change spain law concern assist suicide . death with dignity be their watchword . gene ( clara segura ) be a sensitive activist who enlist the aid of pro bono publico counsel and julia ( belen rueda ) . julia have her own health issue which carry an indefinite but catastrophic prognosis . happily marry to a devote spouse and she bond emotionally with her client . what follow be an acutely sensitive interplay of value and emotion . ramon live with his brother and wife and their technophile teenage son and not the intellectual ramon be and and his age dad who can not stop grieving over his son cataclysmic descent into absolute helplessness . the moral and legal issue be play out through excellent acting and short vignette include a courtroom scene in which formalism triumph over any judicial interpretation that might take into account ramon feeling and view . it may be spain but the issue be alive in most country and include the u. s. especially amuse be a shouted and first floor to bedroom and debate between ramon with a drop in and lecture jesuit priest and also a quadriplegic but one whose hidebound dogma casually mask the absence of a soul . special kudos to mabel rivera and ramon sister in law manuela and for a wrenchingly authentic portrayal of a strong woman who hold the family together . and the same compliment fulsomely extend to belen rueda and julia and who segue from objective advocate to close friend to a woman hurtle towards a dark fate . the director impose no value judgments allow each character full range to express his or her feeling effectively and and at time and movingly . like dead man walking and this movie can support any view about it deadly subject . no one can stop a person from commit suicide if he or she be determine but the universal tragedy of the world ramons be that without assistance and life in a body in which only the heart beat and only the head can move be a sentence no court could pronounce on the most depraved of criminal . the cinematography be well match to the story and the beautiful galician scene be an intended contrast to the limited view the once globe trot ramon experience from his special bed . positive .