Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

kosmasp I guess that most people will know what they are letting themselves into. And I say this, because this movie was shown at the Berlin Film Festival this year (2010) as retrospective. I didn't know anything about the story and was quite surprised by the beginning of the movie. And I can tell you, that I'm sure that quite a few people who watch mainstream movies would have walked out of this movie, if they were in this ... but as I said, many most have known.Apart from a few walk-outs, most people stayed (maybe the even knew the movie, because they had seen it before?). And it changes pace after that "offensive" beginning (thankfully) and becomes more of a personal story. One with many weird and quirky characters. All portrayed very nicely by the actors. And while quite a few scenes have visual or dialog highlights, the movie itself seems to have dated.It's not only the predictability of the plot, but while the weird mannerisms of the characters are nice, they also tend to obnoxious at times too. As one of the first movies Almodovar made, this is pretty solid, but it won't be everyones taste (not that his newer movies are ... just saying)

wes-connors After what seems like a gratuitous gay sex scene (in reality, it's the climax of a movie seen by the stars of this movie), writer/director Pedro Almodóvar gets down to business… Promiscuous and successful director Eusebio Poncela (as Pablo Quintero) bids young lover Miguel Molina (as Juan Bermúdez) a fond farewell. Mr. Molina must leave Madrid, for the coast; he begs off about duties, but really wants Mr. Poncela to clean up his act. This leaves an opening for likewise handsome young Antonio Banderas (as Antonio Benitez), who was turned on by the film's sexy cinematic beginning, and has been fantasizing about being mounted by Poncela. Mr. Banderas wants plugging with a passion.After getting himself plucked by Poncela, Banderas begins displaying psychotic, stalker-like behavior. Banderas professes undying love for Poncela, who continues to moon over Molina. Their increasingly dangerous love triangle is sidestepped with attention given to Poncela's transsexual sister and confidante Carmen Maura (as Tina), a single mom. The gay stalker story in "Law of Desire" was likely more intriguing in decades past - but, Mr. Almodóvar's direction and the extraordinary performances hold up very well.******* La ley del deseo (2/7/87) Pedro Almodóvar ~ Eusebio Poncela, Antonio Banderas, Carmen Maura, Miguel Molina

futurehaus As you see from the other users' comments (the ones who liked the film, I mean), the director likes reinventing themes from previous movies. The links are a great insight into what he had wished to convey in his earlier works but hadn't quite fully expressed. It was the same for Ansel Adams, whose most popular work was actually reissues of his older photos, but with different photo exposures and significantly more dramatic contrast. I've loved watching Almodovar's tastes refine through the years (it could be argued that John Waters followed the same artistic maturation at roughly the same time). If you can, please watch this film with Spanish-speaking friends. There's just too much for the subtitles to convey, and you're missing out on facial expressions and backgrounds if your eyes are glued to the subtitles."Antonio, abre la puerta!" (sound of fan flinging)

ian_harris This is not Almodovar's greatest film. The plot and script tends to melodrama, the acting is a little two-dimensional as a result. Almodovar returns to some themes over and over again in his films, so this film can be seen as an early glimpse of some of the key themes in All About My Mother and Talk To Her, both of which are great films in my view.But this film is worth seeing. The cinematography and the music are great. Almodovar's Madrid is always lovely to look at. And the plot takes its obvious and inevitable course at reasonable pace, so you don't get bored.