PodBill Just what I expected

FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

SoftInloveRox Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Lee Eisenberg If you've seen any of Pedro Almodóvar's movies, then you should know that he tends to focus on relationships and how the relationships can affect the people involved. "Hable con ella" ("Talk to Her" in English) looks at a most unusual kind of relationship: a four-way relationship between a pair of men caring for comatose women. As always, Almodóvar makes sure to create multidimensional characters, especially the female characters (contast that with Michael Bay's movies, wherein the women are just eye candy). The storytelling in flashback reminded me of Almodóvar's more recent "Broken Embraces", which told the story of damaged relationships. But however the story gets told, we have here one of the most profound and intellectually stimulating movies of the 21st century; not that I would expect otherwise from Spain's most famous director. In case you doubted that Almodóvar likes to push the limit, check out the movie-within-a-movie. Seriously, not even John Waters has ever come up with that! I highly recommend it. Outstanding direction and performances from all the cast members.

leplatypus I don't understand the praise for Almodovar as a director as this movie proves one more time that he is a better with a pen than with a camera. The story of this nurse who falls in a doom love is original and a bit moving but the way it's filmed, it's horrible : for me, the movie starts after 45 minutes because the parallel story with another patient is totally useless but for eating time ! Then, i don't support the way the care he gives is showed as voyeuristic and that his sexual offense is actually censored ! Honestly, i didn't recognize the look alike Messi guy from « Fuera Da Carta » who has again scenes with Lola in a cameo. Maybe it's cool to invite friends in a production but it's totally stupid to write a 1 minute character for that ! And for sure, as i wanted to watch the movie for Leonor, i'm totally disappointed as she is in coma nearly all the movie and thus just don't act. Finally, it's a mediocre movie that is worthy of only one painful and forwarded watching for me !

Christopher Culver Pedro Almodovar's 2002 film HABLE CON ELLA is one of the film-maker's most elegant achievements. Benigno (Javier Camera) is a nurse in a Madrid hospital taking care of Alicia (Leonor Watling), a young ballerina who has lived in a coma for the last four years. Marco (Dario Grandinetti) is an Argentinian journalist who watches in horror as his torero girlfriend Lydia (Rosario Flores) falls into a coma after a bullfighting tragedy. The two men form an odd friendship, with Benigno's unwavering love for his ward contrasted with Marco's emotional turmoil. HABLE CON ELLA was the film sensation of the year that I moved to Spain, and I watched it many times then and later. After a recent viewing, I decided that I can fairly declare it to be a masterpiece.HABLE CON ELLA succeeds on several different fronts, from strong acting by this international cast to the bold use of colors and the cinematography. But for me the most memorable are the two psychological tricks Almodovar works in the plot. He inspires such sympathy in the viewer for Benigno, a character who upon rational reflection is arguably monstrous. Then, at the close of the film, he provides what seems like a heartwarming happy ending even when tragedy has unfolded for much of the film. On my recent viewing, I was especially touched by Marco's insightful musings on love in the last flashback scene.Almodovar's movies are often full of odd sexual twists, a fact with which this reviewer is well acquainted and quite used to. For viewers unused to the Spanish auteur, things may initially seem bizarre, but I would call on everyone who likes art cinema to give HABLE CON ELLA a chance.

laurafugate Almodóvar has again proved his uniquely talented capacity to deliver an emotionally textured and morally ambiguous drama. What superficially appears to be a story of two men's shared experience of caring for the comatose women they love, reveals to be as much – if not more – about the relationship that develops between the two male protagonists, Marco and Benigno. Their differences draw them together and offer them the opportunity for understanding and human connection unlike what either has experienced in a romantic context. Talk to Her challenges our conceptions of intimacy, questions our associations of femininity, and examines our reactions to love and loss. Marco, a sensitive but disconnected travel writer, is paralyzed with hopelessness after a bull gorging leaves his matador lover, Lydia in a coma. Benigno, an obsessively loyal and socially stunted nurse, has dedicated four years of round-the-clock care to Alicia, a woman who has not (and now cannot)requite his affections. Marco is physically present in Lydia's room,but he cannot connect. He confides in Benigno: "I can't even touch her…I feel so despicable." Benigno behavior toward Alicia is so far on the other end of the spectrum that it culminates in a morally deplorable action. He feels his love for Alicia is enough to sustain their "relationship," even stating that they "get along better than most married couples." A logical unfolding of the story from this point might have assumed that Marco would emerge as the moral hero, helping Benigno understand the errors of his mentality and saving him from a life of irrational and criminal obsession. Oh, but Almodóvar would never let us off so simply. Benigno is the unconventional hero who teaches Marco that the root of love is in the ability to communicate.What both men find in their friendship with each other is a reciprocal intimacy that neither one has experienced with the women they love. Loneliness is their shared adversary. Instead of harping on Benigno's skewed morality and social ineptitude, Marco sees the beauty of loyalty and confidence of character exhibited by his new friend. Through the glass wall at the prison, Benigno, destitute and forsaken, desires simply the physical contact of a hug from the only person who has not abandoned him. Both men express traits typically associated as feminine – care-giving, grieving, longing for intimacy, crying over loss as well as beauty. Yet, even when their sexual orientation is explicitly questioned, neither feels compelled to defend their masculinity or correct the assumption. With consistency, Almodóvar continues to challenge gender roles and social norms. Talk to Her is framed in circularity as it begins and ends with segments from two different live ballets. The characters' presence and reactions as member of the audience serve as a vehicle to fill in deeply layered emotion without the use of dialogue or explanation. Almodóvar also utilizes this technique in the middle of the film with a creative homage to the avant-garde silent melodramas of the 1920s. As Benigno tells Alicia,"The Shrinking Man" is about a doomed lover so devoted that he sacrifices himself to be part of his mistress forever. This break in the narrative actually serves to pull the audience deeper into Benigno's psyche while also symbolizing the action of insemination. By not filming the sexual act itself, Almodóvar pushes the moral ambiguity of the case and avoids casting Benigno strictly as a rapist. The theme of the film is not about answering whether or not Benigno is a "bad guy." The presentation of the moral dilemma intentionally blurs the lines and forces the audience to see Benigno as a person beyond his actions. The task of creating such emotionally complex characters that can successfully draw surprising sympathy from viewers warrants tremendous praise. While Talk to Her may be considered a bit of a walk on the main-stream side for such an experimental counterculture director, Almodóvar has succeeded in challenging a more traditional audience to connect with emotional intellect to non- traditional cinema.