Almodovar's "Live Flesh" (Carne Tremula) is a very solid movie, probably the most solid and mature screenplay of this original Spanish filmmaker.
The only thing that may disappoint viewers, specially those familiar with his work, is the fact that "Live Flesh" seems to feed off his previous work. Parts of the film seem to be directly extracted from "Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down" (Atame), "Women at the verge..." (Mujeres...), and many others. Half way through the movie I had the feeling I was watching "Tie me up, tie me down" all over again. As a matter of fact the characters of Victor and Ricky are almost the same! Unfortunately, Liberto Rabal is not even half the actor that Antonio Banderas can be. At times it felt Mr. Rabal was just reading his lines without passion. On the other hand, Javier Bardem, Pepe Sancho, and Angela Molina do a pretty decent job, as it's expected from such reliable actors.
Other than that, the movie is pretty entertaining and the plot keeps you on your toes. The author has definitely improved the suspense in the screenplay, as compared to his early work. If I didn't see "Atame," this flick would be my favorite Almodovar.
The only thing that may disappoint viewers, specially those familiar with his work, is the fact that "Live Flesh" seems to feed off his previous work. Parts of the film seem to be directly extracted from "Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down" (Atame), "Women at the verge..." (Mujeres...), and many others. Half way through the movie I had the feeling I was watching "Tie me up, tie me down" all over again. As a matter of fact the characters of Victor and Ricky are almost the same! Unfortunately, Liberto Rabal is not even half the actor that Antonio Banderas can be. At times it felt Mr. Rabal was just reading his lines without passion. On the other hand, Javier Bardem, Pepe Sancho, and Angela Molina do a pretty decent job, as it's expected from such reliable actors.
Other than that, the movie is pretty entertaining and the plot keeps you on your toes. The author has definitely improved the suspense in the screenplay, as compared to his early work. If I didn't see "Atame," this flick would be my favorite Almodovar.