Review of Pain and Glory (2019) by Brent_Marchant — 12 Oct 2019

Despite a number of touching moments, fine performances by Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz, some inventive cinematography, and a captivating soundtrack, this introspective character study never quite gels into a cohesive whole, feeling more like a series of random, mostly unrelated reflections than a fully finished and definitive work.

Loosely based on the life of director Pedro Almodovar, this semi-autobiographical story about a filmmaker looking back on his life feels like it's going toward a destination at which it never quite arrives, despite a clever ending that provides a last-minute refreshing perspective on the work overall.

I was disappointed, though, that the picture never quite led anywhere more meaningful or profound, despite a fervent hope that it would eventually do so. Fans of Almodovar's work will undoubtedly relish this love letter to his art and his audience (and some would say himself), but less ardent viewers of his films are likely to end up, as I have, seeing it as a generally inoffensive though ultimately lacking exercise.

I'd be going too far if I were to call it self-indulgent, but there does seem to be a self-congratulatory element to it that overrides most anything else the film is trying to say.