Fernando León de Aranoa's "A Perfect Day" is one of those films that is clearly seeking to express greater meaning without any major gestures. The film, built around a simple McGuffin, strives for meaning through the subtle. For the most part, the film manages an interesting balance.

And yet for all of its attempts, it cannot manage to reach the platitudes that its title demands.

Ironically, the humor of the film is very much in the title and the irony for its major players.

As the film opens, a massive corpse is being dug out of a well in an armed area of the Balkans. Unfortunately the plan backfires, the corpse falls back in the well and the local people are left without a water supply.

Enter a group of aid workers led by Mambru (Benicio del Toro) who set out on a mission to try and find rope needed to dig the man out and help the people.

The pursuit turns out to be more of a side story for the major conflict at hand -- the war. Mambru will discover that for the most part, violence is ripping apart the Balkans while the United Nations more or less sits back and lets the violence take its course. Throughout Mambru, who seems intent on leaving to start a family, is willing to let things take their course. He has been there a while and the pain around him has taken its toll, making him yearn for the day that he leaves.

Joining him are new aid worker Sophie (Melanie Thierry) and B (Tim Robbins). Sophie is completely green to the situation and wears her idealism on her sleeve. At every chance, she is willing to stand up for what she believes to be right even when everyone ignores her completely. B meanwhile is one with the region and he loves every part of the process. He is seen playing guessing games about which direction to take around mine traps. At another point he gives his own version of what a dilapidated town once looked like. These two characters are fantastic foils for the more cynical Mambru.

That said, Mambru's experiences on this day will awaken his sense of purpose, reminding him of why he was there to begin with. By the end of the film, he decides to act and the irony of the entire situation comes to the fore.

The humor laden throughout the film is also quite solid, with B doing most of the heavy lifting in that respect. There aren't many laugh-out-loud moments, but simply jabs at earlier story points and payoffs that subvert audience expectations.

While this part of the narrative works rather well, there are other areas that don't quite hit the mark. The prime example here is Katya (Olga Kurylenko), Mambru's former lover who he deceived during a previous encounter. There are hints of tension between them and the two even get a scene to air out their grievances, but it ultimately matters little to the story at large. It has no major impact on Mambru's evolution as his relationship situation is really never in doubt. Moreover, what Katya wants out of this situation is merely hinted but never fully explored. Without this clear intention, the "romance" is simply and added element that lengthens the running time but adds little else to the drama.

The performances are solid throughout with del Toro at his most earnest and gruff; Robbin's more open personality in the role of B provides a nice counterpoint. The same goes for the women as Kurylenko's poise adds a nice contrast to Thierry's more neurotic behavior.

"A Perfect Day" is far from perfect, but the film does a solid job of expressing its antiwar message without getting into audiences faces. The consistent dosage of humor certainly helps in this respect, giving the truly dramatic and tragic touches far more weight.