Review: Pain and Glory

Pain and Glory, directed by Pedro Almodóvar, tells the tale of a renowned film director named Salvador Mallo (Antonio Banderas) who is going through a physical decline, causing him to stop making films. Not only are his pains physical, they’re also mental as he reminisce about his childhood with his mother (Penelope Cruz), his schooling, his first relationship, the breakup that happens, and his first love of cinema. With drugs as his only outlet of escape, Salvador seeks to find another alternative to help him get back on his feet.

This is the latest film from Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, who also directed films like Bad Education and Volver. To be honest I’m not very familiar with the director’s work; I’ve checked out one or two of his films in the past but I’ve yet to even scratch the surface of his vast filmography. This have been getting a lot of praise as one of the best films of the year so I went to check it out for myself, and while I overall enjoyed the film it’s very underwhelming in some aspects. This film is overall good, but it’s a film that’s clearly tailored to the fans of the director, of which I can’t call myself.

The biggest draw from this film for me was mainly the performances. Antonio Banderas gives one of the best performances I’ve seen from him so far, and his chemistry with Asier Etxeandia is super engaging to watch. Penelope Cruz does a pretty good job in the film as well despite not being in it much. In fact there wasn’t a single bad performance to be had in the film in general. The cinematography is nice, the music is lovely, the color palette in each scene gives the film a sense of personality, and the direction from Almodóvar was solid enough.

My only major gripe about the film was its pacing. The first half of the film moved at a really slow pace. Much of the events that occur in the film don’t have much of a point to them. There’s a montage scene that kinda felt out of place and gave way too much info that was only repeated later in the film. And as I mentioned earlier this film seemed to cater more to fans of Almodóvar’s work. That last point is not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s just a point that I feel would really affect how one feels personally about the film as a whole.

Overall I really did enjoy it for what it was. I’m glad to have seen it and I would comfortably recommend it to people who especially enjoy Almodóvar as a director. People who want more of a point to their film would probably be turned off by this film, but otherwise if this sounds interesting to you then go ahead and check it out when you can.

Final Verdict: 7/10