Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Mehdi Hoffman There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Hattie I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Yazmin Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

tjsdshpnd Pedro Almodovar has a distinct style of story-telling and character development. This is visible from the first scene of the movie itself where we see the birth of one of the characters in a public transport bus. For some, this scene may have no relevance to the behavior of the character or how the story shapes up, but still the scene is pretty much there. The rest of the movie is also filled with some unique scenes and developments which make the movie very much different from average thrillers. For example, there is a scene where two of the protagonists are face to face fighting each other with vengeance but suddenly stop and cheer together because their favorite player scores a goal. The plot is pretty average, but the direction and the actor's performances has enhanced it. Watch out for the aesthetically shot sex scenes as well. Javier Bardem is good playing a handicap and a passionate man. Liberto Rabal steals the show though with different shades to portray. Not one of Almodovar's best, but still an average watch.Rating : 7/10

runamokprods A maturing Almodovar in a less absurd - if still melodramatic - mode than his early films. This time the tone is more film noir/mystery/character study. Unlike most of the early work, this is generally 'serious', with just touches of his humor. Visual very striking and dark. Wonderful performances, including an early one by Javier Bardem. I appreciate how all the characters are gray, no one is 'good' or bad'. Basically it's a love triangle with multiple angles, and a cop drama about violence and love. What it's missing (for me at least) , and keeps it a very good film, not a great one, is deeper levels of emotion. It's always interesting, but I didn't ultimately find it affecting. Also a couple of key plot contrivances are clunky – which the anarchic young Almodovar could get away with, since everything was absurd anyway. But when you're being more 'real', forced twists feel more… well, forced. Still a film well worth seeing, and another important step in the growth of a major filmmaker.

jboyaquar Another overstuffed and convoluted vivacious mess from that oft-adored consummately colorful artiste from Spain, Aldmodovar. I'm not quite certain why he felt compelled to include a political prologue and epilogue to what is a melodrama with a sliver of social commentary. Typically, the performances are impassioned and committed, especially Bardem who foreshadows his miraculous wooden turn in "Te Sea Inside." However, what mostly troubled me is Aldmodovar's salacious yearning to portray the men as unworthy of these delectable yet self-righteous femme fatales. Admirable as it may be to avoid such seemingly obvious scenes that display evidence of spousal abuse, Almodovar's alignment with the piously important 'Rabal' smacks more of his selfish sexual longing than out of narrative obligation. That being said, who could avoid feeling longing when such fine physical specimens are shot with such desirable yummyness. My goodness, am I envious of the Spanish skin tone. Both the characterizations and narrative plotting are strongest from the late 1st act through the end of the second. The rest is all a bit far-fetched and trying.

Dan Franzen (dfranzen70) Victor, the son of a prostitute, tries to hook up with Elena, a druggie with whom he'd had a previous tryst (his first). She resists, the cops are called, and there's a standoff between Victor and policemen David and Sancho. There's a struggle, and a gun is fired, leaving David paralyzed and sending Victor to jail.When Victor gets out of jail, his mind is on bitter revenge, especially after he discovers that Elena, now clean and sober, has married the invalid David, who's now a paralympic basketball star. Victor gets a job working at the orphanage funded and operated by Elena (but he's not stalking her, no) and begins to romance Clara, the battered wife of Sancho.Each of the five characters, unavoidably intertwined, is complex and morally ambiguous. What are Victor's true intentions? What, even more importantly, are his capabilities? Is Sancho properly haunted by his treatment of Clara and of that fateful night that brought him, David, and Victor together? If Clara does leave Sancho, where will she turn - or is she simply another turn-the-cheek spouse? Does David have a sense of moral superiority because he no longer has use of his lower limbs and therefore has suffered more than most people? And which is stronger, Elena's lust or her loyalty? The quintet, whose lives were forever changed that one night, find themselves drawn back together in a web of intrigue of their own design. All of the actors are fantastic, particularly Francesca Neri, as Elena, and Liberto Rabal, as Victor. The on screen chemistry among all five leads is palpable; no one feels they were just dropped into the movie indiscriminately. Pedro Almodovar's complicated tale is never preachy, and none of the characters are stereotypical. Not all cops are noble, not all drug addicts are irredeemable, not all orphanage operators are perfect, and not all criminals are despicable. Pretty obvious stuff in the real world, but in the land of movies characters are typically painted with as broad a brush as possible in order to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. The movie is tense without veering toward melodrama, and although it begins rather slowly, the final twenty minutes or so are unsettling, nerve-wracking suspense. I defy you to sit complacently while Elena approaches Victor's barrio apartment.