Review of Matador (1986) by Jerry W — 25 Sep 2005

The self-purposeful quirkiness of What Have I Done... was a little bit annoying, can't really say that it's humor was very refined, it was a little too interested in absurdity and shock-value. Other than that there were some fabulous atmospheric scenes here and there, and much skill sprinkled out in this and that. Nice characters and so on.

I didn't find the plot in Tie Me Up to be very interesting as such, but it was carried out much better than what I've seen in many similar movies; Almodóvar actually found some interesting angles on the subject. Nevertheless, I considered this the lightest of these four, and although good film it may be, I doubt it will have any very long-lasting impact on me.

Matador started out really excellent, then it got a little tiresome or repetitive in the middle, then it climbed back up at the end. Overall it's a highly interesting thriller-esque thing.

The screwball comedy of Women on the Verge turned out to be my favorite of the group. Flowing dialogue and tongue-in-cheek comical delivery combined with a very well crafted artistic mesh wins the prize. Of course there is very capable dramatic elements as well.