Rent Pain and Glory (2019)

Not glorious - Pain and Glory review by JR

I found little to like in this film. It was a series of self-indulgent vignettes filled with Almodovar's trade mark vibrant colours, but the content was dull. The copious consumption of heroin and other drugs in real time became tedious and unwarranted, and the many flashbacks to Salvador's childhood were sugary sentimental fantasies. Penelope Cruz plays his mother with brio, but a woman saddled with a life of drudgery and poverty would not have looked anything like she does. Although the title 'Pain and Glory' hints at greatness; this is a slight, minor work and is for Almodovar groupies only.

No entiendo! - Pain and Glory review by BE

This film was very hard going for me. I don't speak fluent Spanish and yet again, some bright spark chose to display the white subtitles on the bottom of the actual film. Thus, when the film was of a light hue, it was very difficult to read them. It was a case of keep pausing the film to read what the dialogue was. The continuity of viewing was so disruptive, it spoilt the film. I don't feel I can comment any further apart from adding that Antonio Banderos looked very natural in his role and displayed his excellent acting ability. I was also non-plussed with the ending. 

Inconsiderate subtitles - Pain and Glory review by GP

There's no excuse for using small white subtitles. Much of the film was filmed against light/white backgrounds making it very difficult to read them. Foreign language films need to be made accessible with good subtitling and there was no effort made to do this with this film. It ruined the experience for me.

Tedious, Pretentious, Self-indulgent Drivel from THE most Over-rated Director of our Age. - Pain and Glory review by PV

This film was AWFUL, But then I tend to think Almodovar is THE most over-rated film director EVER. If a British film director made drivel like this he'd get slated. Maybe there is a Hispanic bias at work here because his mediocre movies get showered with praise.

I turned off before 1 hour as I could not stand any more.

Pointless, pretentious, dull, tedious, deeply boring - it could be a BBC TV drama!

FOR A DECENT film about drugs watch 'OSLO, 31 AUGUST' which is a BRILLIANT 2011 Scandinavian film.

AWFUL no stars.

Hard work - Pain and Glory review by DO

We are Almodovar fans, but I gave up on this slow, depressing film. I guess you need to be in the right mood for it

Disappointing and a little ridiculous - Pain and Glory review by DF

I do like Almodovar’s movies, but i will qualify this further down. I know that Pain and Glory has garnered the usual ‘rave’ reviews for an Almodovar movie, but, for me, it is disappointing and a little ridiculous. There are the usual Almodovar trademarks; the colours, medical matters, mother, and, of course, Penelope Cruz. It’s a bit obvious that there is probably a lot of Almodovar in the main character ‘Salvador Mallo’ (is there an anagram there?), played competently by Banderas, but this leads to a very well trod storyline; this time, a movie director losing his ‘mojo’ and doing a lot of reflecting. Salvador's last movie was many years ago but there is a plan by some institute or other to celebrate the movie. Salvador is contacted by an old friend and this leads to a reunion between him and Alberto, the actor who starred in the movie; they had fallen out and not been in contact for years. They patch things up mostly through the use of ‘chasing the dragon’. Alberto performs a one man show of something that Salvador has written about a ‘lost love’. and in an Almodovar style comedic scene both of them ‘sort of’ appear at the celebration event for the movie. Underlying Salvador, however, is his health and his angst about mother and his long lost lover, who reemerges towards the end for a ‘sweet’, but not re-established, reunion. I found that the self-indulgence of the movie caused me to sharpen my criticism and even become a little sarcastic about it. Some of the scenes I found to be ridiculous; the women washing the clothes had shades of Hollywood sugar. The characters Salvador and Alberto are so stereotypically lost glory celeb types; dressed in dated catalogue clothes and living in dated arty apartments (Alberto has the looks of some sort of retro cruise ship entertainer). Perhaps Almodovar intends all of this as irony? In one wholly unconvincing scene Salvador goes into the ‘hood’ to buy drugs from, of course, a black man. Such scenes and characterisations in my opinion drag the movie’s credibility down. At the beginning of the review I said that I like Almodovar’s movies, but, over time and in retrospect, it is sometimes the case that one changes how one rates movies and books as new perspectives evolve; maybe I have reached the stage where, with Pain and Glory, I can say now that I ‘used’ to like Almodovar’s movies.