Pedro Almodovar embraces his telenovela dramatic instincts and gives us a film that's an artsier version of one of those melodramas you'd find on a Spanish-language channel. That's not a necessarily bad thing, because this movie is actually at its best when it's focusing on the melodramatic emotions triggered by a switched-at-birth narrative and the two mothers -- one who knows, one who doesn't -- whose babies are the ones affected. It's when Almodovar gets more serious, and tries to marry this plot to another about the lingering scars left on Spain's national psyche by Franco's authoritarian regime, that he stumbles.
He never really does find a successful way to bring these two stories together, so it's like he had ideas for two films and just decided to cram them into one.
One thing I can say for Almodovar's films -- I want to live in them. Penelope Cruz has one of the best apartments I've ever seen in a movie.
Cruz was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for this film. She's good, but I'm not sure about Oscar worthy. Alberto Iglesia was also nominated for the film's very effective score, that makes the movie sound like more of a thriller than it ever actually ends up being.
Grade: A-
He never really does find a successful way to bring these two stories together, so it's like he had ideas for two films and just decided to cram them into one.
One thing I can say for Almodovar's films -- I want to live in them. Penelope Cruz has one of the best apartments I've ever seen in a movie.
Cruz was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for this film. She's good, but I'm not sure about Oscar worthy. Alberto Iglesia was also nominated for the film's very effective score, that makes the movie sound like more of a thriller than it ever actually ends up being.
Grade: A-