Broken Embraces

I miss the old Almodovar and his slightly ragged, totally outrageous and frequently hilarious movies. These days he's a consummate director, fully in control of his material and awards-worthy but somehow I find the resulting films less satisfying. There's nothing wrong with Broken Embraces (the production and costume design are as gobsmacking as ever) but it inspires a "so what?" shrug rather than an impassioned reaction of any kind. The biggest mis-step is the final peek at the film-within-the-film, Girls and Suitcases. The characters react as though it's the funniest thing they've ever seen in their entire lives and comment about the hilarity of the clip. Alas, said clip was greeted in a real cinema with deafening silence. Hilarious? You've got to be kidding. The clip is so obviously based on the escalating hysteria of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown that it's just asking for trouble - and unfavourable comparisons. Bad Education made far more interesting use of its film milieu, and with greater emotional impact. If only Almodovar had stuck to the melodrama and tried not to be so cute ...