Delayed Reaction: All About My Mother

Premise: After her son dies in an accident, a woman travels to Barcelona to tell his estranged father and bonds with a local nun and theater troupe.

 

I knew I’d made a mistake as soon as the film began and I saw the director was credited only as Almodovar. Not a huge mistake. Just a mistake big enough to tell me I was going to have trouble unlocking this movie. I haven’t seen a Pedro Almodovar film before. A friend recently tried to explain Almodovar’s films to me recently saying something like “When you watch one of his movies you realize he’s the only one that could make it.” All About My Mother is supposed to be one of his best films, but it might be too late into his career to be a good entry point. If he’s already a single name brand (Almodovar”) by All About My Mother, perhaps this would be like making Kundun my first Scorsese movie.

 

I did like All About My Mother. I should be clear about that. However, I do think I spent too long trying to figure out what the film was doing to enjoy it. It has an uncommon mix of realism and melodrama. All the pieces taken individually don’t seem to add up, except that they do. I didn’t realize how complex the plot is as I was watching. The mother’s (Cecilia Roth) son dies while trying to get the autograph of an actress after a show. So, she goes to tell his father, who is a trans woman. While looking for her, she gets a job working for the actress her son was trying to get the autograph from. That actress is dating her costar who has a drug problem. Oh, and Roth befriends a nun played by Penelope Cruz who got pregnant from Roth’s son’s father as well. And she’s infected with HIV, as is the baby. Then there’s Roth’s trans female friend as well who starts working for the same theater too. I’m missing a few other connection points and beats too. It’s a nuts movie, but in the moment, it feels pretty simple. Almost boring. This is a movie I’d be curious to revisit once I’ve seen so more of his films. And I do plan to see more of his films. I really love filmmakers who can make a mess look entirely intentional. Filmmakers who make me say “I don’t understand why it works. It just does.”

 

Verdict: Weakly Recommend