MOVIE - TALK TO HER - Review Rating $$$$$ $$$ (OUT OF 10)
STARRING - Javier Camara (Benigno), Dario Grandinetti (Marco), Leonor Watling (Alicia), Rosario Flores (Lydia) & Geraldine Chaplin (Katerina).
DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER - Pedro Almodóvar (All About My Mother)
A quirky love story from Academy Award winning director Pedro Almodóvar.
Talk To Her deals with a friendship that develops between two guys who are both caring for their girlfriends with comas. This is certainly a unique and fresh angle from which to explore an age old theme. It also provides numerous humorous moments. The best of these is a hilarious daydream silent film sequence. I won't ruin it for you, by telling you more, but this scene alone is worth the price of admission.
Talk To Her is not all laughs. The male nurse, Benigno, is a tragic figure. Slightly sissy and not particularly attractive, he has arranged his life so that he can care for Alicia, the woman of his dreams who herself is in a permanent dream state. The pathetic nature of this unilateral relationship is compounded by the knowledge that if Alicia awoke she would not give Benigno the time of day. His counterpart, Marco, is too a victim of love. A sensitive guy, not always able to express his emotions, he is subconsciously attracted to other wounded souls. The friendship he develops with Benigno is based on this same tendency.
The hallmark of any good movie is its ability to make the audience care about the characters portrayed. Humour and contemplation are deftly interwoven in such a way as to gradually, but discreetly, develop a connection between the viewer and the characters. In the end, despite Marco's sappiness and Benigno's delusional depravity, you will be moved by the circumstances they find themselves in.
Talk To Her has been nominated for two Academy Awards. While it may not win its definitely worth seeing.
Alternative Reviews:
Roger Ebert's Review
Daniel C. Kasman's Review
Rotten Tomatoes Reviews
Talk To Her Official Website
Running time - 122 minutes
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2003
David Schwartz.
Last update:
8/9/03; 11:07:23 PM.
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