Almodóvar adds to his familiar sour comedy and mock melodrama the new element of an apparent apparition, a mundane ghost, a flatulent phantom, blended in with the familiar elements in uncertain tone. He shows nary a trace of the erstwhile "bad boy," nothing now but a good, good boy, devoted to mothers in particular, reverential of females in general, the Spanish George Cukor. (The cadaver in the freezer, male, is but a further sign of his respect and his awe.) The result can be recommended to the well-trained legions who are willing to meet this filmmaker seven-eighths of the way. Even the foot-draggers must concede that it's deftly staged and well acted, and that Penélope Cruz, beyond acting well, shines like a star. Or more descriptively, a heavenly body. Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Yohana Cobo, Blanca Portillo. (2006) — Duncan Shepherd
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