Rating: R
Genre:
Comedy
Theatrical Release: 11/11/1988(USA)
Release Date: 11/03/2009
SubTitles: English/French
Dubbed: Espanol
Sound: DD2
Run Time: 89 Minutes
Flags: Adult Situations, Strong Sexual Content, Not For Children, Profanity
Distributor/Studio: Sony Pictures
Though the kinky characters and aberrant social behavior common to the works of Spanish director
Pedro Almodovar are very evident in his
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, the film is at heart a door-slamming farce in the grand tradition. The tiny apartment of pregnant actress
Carmen Maura is the "Grand Central Station" setpiece for this dizzying tale. Distraught over her recent breakup with her lover,
Carmen prepares to overdose on sleeping pills, which she blends into a gazpacho so they'll go down easier. She is diverted from her suicide by her best friend
Maria Barranco, a fugitive from justice (her boy friend is a Shi'Ite terrorist) who needs a place to stay. Later, when
Carmen's apartment is empty, her ex-lover's grown son (
Antonio Banderas) comes to the apartment with his fiance (
Rossy de Palma) in answer to
Carmen's "room to let" newspaper ad. The wife inadvertently ingests
Carmen's "pill sauce," and as she blissfully snoozes, the husband inaugurates an affair with
Carmen's friend
Barranco.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
;)
