| Overall Grade: |
B- |
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| Story: |
C |
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| Acting: |
A- |
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| Direction: |
B- |
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| Visuals: |
B- |
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Not sure what all the clamoring is for...
by Tim H (movies profile)
Aug 24, 2007
12
of
17 people found this review helpful
I have to admit, I was quite excited when I learned that Almodovar was releasing a new film, and even happier to learn that Carmen Maura was in it. People were including it in their best of the year lists, it was being nominated for awards, everything pointed to another beautifully shot, masterully directed, complex work by Almodovar. My wife and I saw it opening night, and we were both quite disappointed. The plot lacked any real direction, and the event that was supposed to set the plot in motion, (the murder of Penelope Cruz's husband at the hands of their daughter) was unconvincing and, to be quite honest, evoked a big "so what". The reaction seemed greatly exaggerated and made little sense. Self-defense and the story is over. Her husband's actions even lacked any intrigue or shock value. I felt that the most of the plot could have easily been developed without this. The movie sputters along, with dead ends that added no intrugue, no plot development, no character development, no nothing. It was as if Pedro had a bunch of ideas in his head when he was brainstorming the screenplay, but rather than stick with one of them and develop a screenplay from there, he seems to just stick all these loose ends together and call it a movie. By a lesser director and screenwriter I wouldn't have been so disappointed. The acting is good, the shooting of each scene is visually pleasing, and even each litte segment of the plot has merit in and of itself, but together it's a garbled mess. By far one of his weakest movies in years. After movies like All About My Mother, Talk to Her, and Bad Education, each of them brilliant, with the first and last being perhaps two of my favorite Almodovar films, Volver is hugely disappointing. |
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