Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

A Disappointing Continuation

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

'Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown' moves on at a rapid pace right from the beginning. Almodóvar keeps the film moving along while cooking up hilarious chaos all the way through. The screenplay for the film has a very play-like quality to it. The events of the film take place within a few hours of the same day. The characters are all very closely linked and a number of scenes play out in the presence of the majority of the characters in the same room.The film is a bit of a study of the female psychology and female sensibilities. There are three major female characters in the film - Pepa, Lucia and Candela. Lucia and Candela are two stereotypes and they both display weakness and inability to cope in the face of trouble. Pepa is the major well rounded character who juxtaposes those two characters and manages to show a full range of emotions and have an arc over the course of the film. She goes through the emotional spectrum ranging from feeling vulnerable and sad to feeling liberated, strong and determined, she learns a thing or two about herself in the process and comes out of the whole scenario as a different person.Almodóvar consistently keeps a very humorous tone running throughout the film, but there are also moments of great surrealism like the black-and-white dream sequence or the scene with the fire or even the poetic scene where Pepa and Ivan communicate spiritually through the dubbing of a movie scene. Almodóvar also uses the vibrancy of colours(especially red and blue) to express themes and moods. This film was made towards the beginning of his career, but his distinctive directorial touches were already noticeable. Carmen Maura is brilliant as Pepa. She gives us a living, breathing, character who has her vulnerabilities and weaknesses, but who also has the ability to deal with these weaknesses and take control of her life, help her friends and start afresh. 'Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown' is not as breathtaking as some of the subsequent films in Almodóvar's body of work, however, it is still a really solid piece of work that explores the complexities of a character. Recommended.

Some parts were weird but good acting.It was funny and had a excellent story line.It was entertaining and had lots of drama.you can relate to the characters and their problems.I also liked the way it was directed.It was good for a foreign film.Some parts were weird but good acting.It was funny and had a excellent story line.It was entertaining and had lots of drama.you can relate to the characters and their problems.I also liked the way it was directed.It was good for a foreign film.

With the Toronto Film Festival going on this weekend, it is appropriate that this is my second venture into Pedro Almodóvar's films, as it won the People's Choice Award at that festival in 1989.Almodóvar wrote and directed this very funny film that is a far cry from Matador. Antonio Banderas is back, this time with a Lyle Lovette haircut, as the son of a philandering husband (Fernando Guillén), who also cheats on his girlfriends.Carmen Maura (Volver0 leads a superb cast as the girlfriend that just got dumped. She is hilarious as she appears to be losing it. In comes her girlfriend (María Barranco), who is afraid of being arrested for harboring Shiite terrorists (this is 1998!). Add Banderas and his mother to the mix, and you have one laugh after another.It even had a great line reminiscent of "A woman needs a man, like a fish needs a bicycle.":Ana (Ana Leza, who was married to Banderas before Melanie Griffith came along): I'm fed up. I'm gonna get myself some quick cash, buy myself his bike and split. With a bike, who needs a man? Pepa (Carmen Maura): Learning mechanics is easier than learning male psychology. You can figure out a bike, but you can never figure out a man.It is almost misogynistic to say the movie was very funny as all the women were hysterical, but it was.

I am a huge fun of Almodovar and Women... was the last out of all his movies I saw - I have seen all of them now. I am very happy that this one was the last as if it was first I wouldn't go any further. Early Almodovar, very square and obvious and so annoying that I couldn't get through all of this movie. Characters supposedly perfectly created - were absolutely unbearable - something too much and something else missing.At some point I developed feeling of compassion towards men in this movie. Cant believe that Almodovar was accused of being feminist after making Women.. I am very happy that later movies were better and I am looking forward to his new production to get rid of the bad taste after Women.... P.S. I am not American:)