Law of Desire (La Ley del Deseo)

— Another likeable tale of exemplary nutters.”

Red or dead: Carmen Maura shines in Law of Desire
  • Director: Pedro Almodóvar
  • Spain, 1987
  • 3 stars out of 5

There’s much to like about the performances in Law of Desire. Eusebio Poncela plays a marvellously ambivalent, sexually ambiguous film director as his insouciance gives way to raw emotion while Carmen Maura takes well to her role as his gold-hearted, rough diamond sister.

But the real turn here is delivered by Antonio Banderas who, in portraying his second of three exemplary Almodóvar nutters, does a fine job of representing reckless jealousy with a worrying streak of sincerity.

So much for great acting, because the story holds about as much water as a bucket with a hole. Nevertheless, Almodóvar manages to plug it for a while at least and his treatment of similar themes – in 2004′s Bad Education – would prove more fruitful next time.

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Hello you, I'm Mike Padgett. I'm not the Princeton curator, the US senatorial candidate, the Kentuckian pastor or the journalist from Arizona. In fact, I work as a consultant in User Experience and Information Design.

I also enjoy travel, concerts, films and walking.

I'm originally from Yorkshire, England but nowadays I live in Brussels, Belgium. My current favourite Belgian beer is Ellezelloise Hercule.

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