Broken Embraces
- Review Date: November 20, 2009
- Rated: R
- Genre: Drama
- Release Year: 2009
- Running Time: 128 minutes
What parents need to know
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that this drama -- like Spanish director Pedro Almodovar's other movies -- is a complex, engrossing story with themes that are too mature for even most older teens, including infidelity and spousal abuse. Expect frank sexual discussion and some steamy scenes (lots of moaning and groaning, as well as a close-up view of naked breasts), domestic violence (a man pushes his wife down the stairs), swearing, and drug use.
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What's the story?
Screenwriter Harry Caine (Lluis Homar) is a man whose existence is far shorter than his age. He became Caine when he was blinded in a car accident many years earlier -- the same accident that claimed the life of his lover, Lena (Penelope Cruz), a married actress whom he met on the set of the last film he directed, back when he was known as Mateo. But the death of a millionaire entrepreneur has yanked Caine's past back into his present, and it won't be ignored, for good or for ill.
Is it any good?
Sensual and stylish, BROKEN EMBRACES showcases Cruz’s many gifts, both physical and professional. Playing an unhappily married actress portraying an Audrey Hepburn-like waif in the movie within this Spanish-language movie, she’s able to access a gamut of expressions with a tilt of her head and an upturn of her mouth. It all works well with her character, a far-from-saintly but still likeable woman who finally finds passion after marrying out of obligation. But true love exacts a high price, one that pulls many others into a maelstrom that’s partly of her making.
The film borders on the melodramatic, and plot twists involving drug abuse gone awry seem random (the movie kind of has an everything-and-the-kitchen-sink feel to it, crowding out the pure drama within). Broken Embraces' references to cinematic history and the movie industry itself may please film buffs, but they won’t necessarily impress them -- not with anything that’s never been seen before from Almodovar or anyone else.
Families can talk about...
Families can talk about the movie's messages and role models. Are any of the characters purely "good" or "bad"? What is the movie saying about love and relationships?
What do you think the movie's title means? To which embraces does it refer? Is it literal or metaphorical?
Why does Harry Caine abandon his identity? If he wanted to forget it, why does he then hang onto evidence of who he once was?
Movie details
| Theatrical release date: | November 20, 2009 |
| DVD release date: | March 16, 2010 |
| Cast: | Blanca Portillo, Lluis Homar, Penelope Cruz |
| Director: | Pedro Almodovar |
| Studio: | Sony Pictures Classics |
| Genre: | Drama |
| Run time: | 128 minutes |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | sexual content, language and some drug material |
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