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Although Raimunda and Sole’s mother died nearly four years ago, there are many that feel that she lives on. Several in the village, including close friend to the girls Augustina heard their Aunt Paula talking to her for a while until Aunt Paula finally passed on as well. That event became just one in a tumultuous series of problems for Raimunda. Not only did her close relative die, so did her husband at the hands of their daughter (also named Paula, after the aunt). So, not only does she have to find a way to cover up and get rid of this newly found dead weight, she also has to provide for her family. That’s not to say that Sole doesn’t have problems either, because now her mother’s spirit has come to live with her.

I think I just found my favorite Pedro Almodóvar movie. I have not seen a lot of the writer/director’s work, but from what I know of him I can say that this is not only his best work, but also his most accessible. This story has plenty of trademark quirks, twists and turns, but they aren’t as radical or extreme. They seem like perfectly acceptable extensions of the plot giving the film a nice “normal” progression – a word not usually used to describe Pedro’s pictures. Even so, it’s still essentially an unpredictable tale that should keep you interested.

I’m glad Almodóvar didn’t take go down some of the roads his writing presented him with. Not only is there something of a love story that goes nowhere, but more importantly there’s the fate of the dead husband Paco. When Raimunda (played by Penélope Cruz and her cleavage) takes over a restaurant, I figured we were going to see an “Eating Raoul” sort of thing start to happen. Luckily, it adheres to simply dealing with the issues of the two sisters without throwing such a main tangent like that in there to distract the audience from the emotional aspects of the film.

The great cast including Cruz, Carmen Maura as the dead mother (“Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,” “Free Zone”), Lola Dueñas as Sole (“Talk to Her”), Yohana Cobo as young Paula (who’s given a great little monologue to deliver while looking directly into the camera to pierce the audience with her words), Blanca Portillo as Augustina, and Antonio de la Torre as Paco (“DarkBlueAlmostBlack”) all capture the spirit of their characters extremely well. Collectively and individually they hit all the right marks with the dialogue, delivering at flip of a switch impeccable comedic inflection and heavy emotional burdens. The mix is wonderful to watch and really helps draw you in to understand what’s going on inside their heads.

I think the movie could have been expanded and turned into an interesting television series. The movie wraps up well enough, and in a great spot, but there’s certainly enough material with plenty of fascinating complex characters to keep it going in a longer format. The fact that Almodóvar is able to condense it so well without making the audience feel like they’re missing out on anything is testament to his talent. Almodóvar has proven himself to film lovers time and time again. This effort simply helps cement what we already know. Viva Pedro.

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