Broken Embraces

Name: Broken Embraces
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Romance
Released: November 20, 2009
Duration: 127 min
Rating: 76
Cast: Blanca Portillo, Lluís Homar, Penélope Cruz

2009

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 53 Ratings

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7.4

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7.4	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 53 Ratings

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Broken Embraces

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Movie Details & Credits

Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: November 20, 2009 | R

Starring: Blanca Portillo, Lluís Homar, Penélope Cruz

Summary: A man writes, lives and loves in darkness. Fourteen years before, he was in a brutal car crash on the island of Lanzarote. In the accident, he not only lost his sight, he also lost Lena, the love of his life. One night when he's asked about his life before the accident, the man can't refuse the chance to tell his story. (Sony Classics)

Director: Pedro Almodóvar

Genre(s): Drama, Thriller, Romance

Rating: R

Runtime: 127 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Roger Ebert

A voluptuary of a film, drunk on primary colors, caressing Penelope Cruz, using the devices of a Hitchcock to distract us with surfaces while the sinister uncoils beneath. As it ravished me, I longed for a freeze frame to allow me to savor a shot. Read full review

Stephanie Zacharek

This really is Cruz's movie: Almodóvar is her North Star -- following his lead, she's always found her surest and most graceful footing as an actress. Read full review

Lou Lumenick

That still makes Broken Embraces superior to at least 99 percent of the movies released in 2009. Run, don't walk. Read full review

Carrie Rickey

A melodrama painted in the saffron-and-turmeric hues of a Bollywood musical, Broken Embraces is the Spanish filmmaker's homage to Hitchcock's "Vertigo," that moody account of obsessional love and double lives. Read full review

Peter Rainer

During vast sections of Broken Embraces, I wished I was watching the actual old-time noirs instead of the miasmic concoction that Almodóvar has made from them. Read full review

Rene Rodriguez

With this gorgeously melodramatic ode to cinema, the filmmaker comes dangerously close to losing himself inside his celluloid dreams -- and leaving the audience behind. Read full review

Mike Scott

Almodovar lets his movie become boring, and insufferably so. Read full review

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User Reviews

BradK.

Nov 20, 2009

A gorgeous film! Cruz is incredible and unmatched in her ability to morph and demonstrate nuance throughout the film. The overall feeling of the film is unsettling in a captivating way. This is not "Volver," but closer to "Bad Education," but with a sense of humor in light of the bleak A gorgeous film! Cruz is incredible and unmatched in her ability to morph and demonstrate nuance throughout the film. The overall feeling of the film is unsettling in a captivating way. This is not "Volver," but closer to "Bad Education," but with a sense of humor in light of the bleak scenario. It also brilliantly captures the effects of Spanish literature's common metatextual and autoreferential themes, with "Chicas y Maletas" mirroring "Women on the Verge..." and Cruz herself playing a woman who wants to be an actress, a star, in a film from the leader of Spanish film.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful

AnnMary

Nov 28, 2009

Penelope Cruz is one the best actresses in the world nowadays. This is a new example of her excellent way of performing and her lovely talent. She deserves another Academy Award Nomination.

0 of 1 users found this helpful

amheretojudge

Oct 23, 2019

Penelope carries rage, vulnerability, humility, humour and pain in just those two eyes, maybe that's why they are always looking down.

Broken Embraces The writer and director Pedro Almodovar's Shakespearean tragedy is extremely Shakespearean. There is unnerving phase of practicality thatPenelope carries rage, vulnerability, humility, humour and pain in just those two eyes, maybe that's why they are always looking down.

Broken Embraces

The writer and director Pedro Almodovar's Shakespearean tragedy is extremely Shakespearean. There is unnerving phase of practicality that you cannot escape. And for that reason it is also a horror for me. There is mythology, there is narration, there are characters whispered about like some holy myth, they yearn for peace and prosperity, yet they are always drowned in their own sin. These things, the old style storytelling is fabricated so smoothly and properly coated in the hip and happening drums that you forget amidst all the rock band, DJ music and fashionable clothing, that they are actually kings and queens.

The filmmaking and the celebrity is an excuse for crowning them as royalty. Their servant or call it a slave or a loyal spy, these paws are poking the rulers. What you get now, is of course, old mentality. That is not to say that it isn't timely. It's just that these characters then, not aware or ready or in habitant to listen or match others' perspective, fails to comprehend with them. Hence, coming back to the Shakespeare theory. There is a lot of Shakespeare in the film, for there is a lot of presumptuous thinking.

You can see them make mistakes and plan mistakes resulting into us, the viewers, bite our nails, pull our hair and nod our head in denial. That's just good drama. That is a good film. Broken Embraces never fixes itself. It isn't meant to. The film juggles around plenty of relationships yet none of those aren't frowned upon by either us or the characters. What you then steer towards is character building. The broken is not the equation, not the character, not the zest to live and hope for. It is just that barricade between your self-created theories and the truth. That ugly incorrectly-motivated truth.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Mornington

Oct 23, 2010

Pedro AlmodÃ³var is a single-minded artist who always has one eye on the story and the characters, and the other on the delight of the film's images and colours. Never has there been a filmmaker who uses such an inspired and gorgeous and sumptuous palette.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

smijatov

Jan 1, 2011

Broken Embraces seems to be a typical Almadovar film - which is very good, to say the least. He uses his typical ways of directing, which have by now become his trademark. With his usual excellent cast, and of-late muse Penelope Cruz leading the way, the film just shows great characterBroken Embraces seems to be a typical Almadovar film - which is very good, to say the least. He uses his typical ways of directing, which have by now become his trademark. With his usual excellent cast, and of-late muse Penelope Cruz leading the way, the film just shows great character development. That is both due to the screenplay and a rather impressive response of the actors to the screenplay and Almodovar's direction. The original score of the film is also rather captivating.
However, one cannot but compare his latest to his previous films, such as Volver, La mala educacion or Hable con ella, and once one does it, one can see that Broken Embraces (Los abrazos rotos) is not quite as great as the others. There is just something missing. However, it is still a very good film, coming from the best Spanish (if not European) director, starring the best Spanish actors. I'd highly recommend it!!… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

DawdlingPoet

Jan 16, 2022

This is a fairly typical Almodovar drama film, featuring Penelope Cruz (but of course). Its a character driven drama and features a good use of music in the background to highlight the tenser moments. The plot features numerous twists. I became a little confused about which precise timelineThis is a fairly typical Almodovar drama film, featuring Penelope Cruz (but of course). Its a character driven drama and features a good use of music in the background to highlight the tenser moments. The plot features numerous twists. I became a little confused about which precise timeline I was viewing at points, as it switches between different years but then I can't say I'm the best at fully concentrating on intricate film details I suppose. Its a film about nostalgia and regret.

This is a pretty intriguing story (somewhat thought provoking) with good performances, so yes its a good film thats worth seeing, I'd say but not my favourite Almodovar.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

asthobaskoro

Apr 29, 2011

Pedro Almodovar? Check. Hard-boiled 1950s American film noir? Check. Penelope Cruz? Check. I think it's not bad movie but it's quite not interesting for me.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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