Who's in It: Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo
The Basics: A young mother in Madrid (Cruz) has to deal with the death of her husband and a sudden descent into financial difficulty that forces her to "adopt" an unused restaurant to make ends meet. Then the ghost of her dead mother shows up to address unfinished mother-daughter business. The upside is that ghosts don't eat much.
What's the Deal? It's nonstop ladies, ladies, ladies in this one, the latest from Pedro Almodóvar. You get the feeling that Douglas Sirk rose from the dead himself and said, "You will finally become the Spanish-language version of me once and for all." It's funny, smart, full-heart-on-the-sleeve stuff, and if you don't bring tissue, you'll be wiping your eyes with your own sleeve.
But It's Got Penélope Cruz in It: If that's your beef, then you need to get out more. True, she's not that impressive when she's acting in English. I blame Tom Cruise for that. She's still a little on the ESL side of life for that. But in her own language, she relaxes and becomes something really great to watch. If you'd seen All About My Mother, you'd have known that already.
Director/Actor Reunion: Maura, who plays the ghost mom, was a regular in Almodóvar movies for a long time. Then they had a falling out. So it's very nice to see that they patched things up and she's back in his movies. I like happy endings.
Weird Badonkadonk Fact: Cruz wore prosthetic buttocks in this movie. Almodóvar wanted her to be more real-lady and less actressy, without making her get all Robert De Niro and gain 40 actual pounds.