Been a long time since I've seen one of Almodovar's films, the last two being 'Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down' and 'High Heels' (mostly because of Victoria Abril), but I have noticed how busy he has been in the interceding time, but for some reason or another, the descriptions just didn't grab me. I suppose I shouldn't let that stop me in the future, because the description for this one didn't really grab me in a big way either, but I was drawn to it because of the good press that Penelope Cruz was getting, and her oscar nomination, but boy was this a pleasant surprise all around.
Pedro Almodovar's look and methods haven't changed much over the years, he is still able to take the most outlandish storylines and flesh them out in such a way that you totally accept them, - what seems totally farfetched and cornball at the halfway point of the movie, completely turns around and resolves itself into a believable and satisfactory conclusion in the final half an hour -- and characters that you deeply care about by the end of the film no matter what sort of troubled past they may have, or deeds they may have committed. The neon bright splashes of color are still there, and his propensity for writing strong, interesting female roles, and the chance is always there, that somebody is going to break out into song, at any given moment, and it totally works. Penelope Cruz, who I had previously pegged as yet another of hollywood's imported 'latin bombshell flavor of the month', does some marvelous work here, and even sings beautifully in one of the more moving segments of the film.