Talk to Her (2002) review

Pedro taps into his assortment of soap opera storylines and comes up with this story of several coma victims and the men who love them ... however I'm not totally convinced it fully says what I think he intends for it to say. It's trying to delve into the idea of love that is unreciprocated as being as valid as 'normal love,' but instead suggests that the only good woman is a woman that is under control - the coma patient is played by a gorgeous young actress, whose body is unshielded from the wary desire of the male nurse - and then tries to link all this up with the problem of Mother and adolescent hang-ups. He wastes the first hour by jumping around in the story ("two weeks later," "four months earlier," etc. ... a most distracting device) and later on reassembles everything to create an unacceptably 'perfect' ending. Almodóvar enthusiasts will notice how closely the 'shrunken man' in the silent film (crawling inside the prop vagina) links up with the toy scuba diver in Victoria Abril's bathtub; Wong Kar-Wai fans will recognize Caetano Veloso (in the flesh!) performing "Cucurrucucu Paloma," a song that was used (effectively) in Happy Together.