Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

I admire directors who provide homages in their work. It doesn't have to be a huge, flashy reference. Just something that might make the viewer happy.

Pedro Almodovar's Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is reminiscent of the comedies from Hollywood's Golden Age. I mean, what other kind of film is there where you can find an odd menagerie of characters under one roof? Only in a screwball comedy.

One thing I realized was that some aspects of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown were also used for the film within a film in Broken Embraces, a later film of Almodovar's. It's just a simple call back like that which makes me admire directors like Almodovar. Any director who can self-reference is one I'm bound to like.

It's interesting to see Almodovar doing straight-up comedy. I'm mainly familiar with his melodramas (though I use that term loosely), so seeing him tackle something much lighter is somewhat of a shock. Still, many of his noted trademarks are present throughout so I was content.

I feel that a film like Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown couldn't be made today mainly because it takes talent to be able to balance out the pure chaos within the story. Of course Almodovar knew what he was doing back in 1988 (and still does today), so that's why I enjoyed the film so much. (I'm a sucker for a good film. Is that so much to ask for?)

My Rating: *****