Broken EmbracesMovie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 76 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
17 not for kids
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 100
    Chicago Sun-Times | 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

  • 91
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    Many of the characters go by two different names. So best advice for optimum viewing is, see Broken Embraces...twice. Read full review

  • 90
    The New York Times | A.O. Scott

    Broken Embraces leaves the viewer in a contradictory state, a mixture of devastation and euphoria, amusement and dismay that deserves its own clinical designation. Call it Almodvaria, a syndrome from which some of us are more than happy to suffer. Read full review

  • 88
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    Cruz exudes a sensual aura of mystery that holds you spellbound. And Almodvar, a true poet of cinema, creates images -- horrifying and healing -- that live inside your head like a waking dream. You want to miss a movie like that? I didn't think so. Read full review

  • 80
    Los Angeles Times | Betsy Sharkey

    The writer-director is up to his old tricks, creating an onion of an experience -- a movie within a movie within a movie, irony in each layer, poignancy that stings and whimsy that bites. Read full review

  • 75
    Washington Post |

    Amid all this dazzling artifice, the film's most authentic source of power comes from its star. Read full review

  • 75
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    As a film that pays tribute to vintage '50s Hollywood, Broken Embraces is a visual delight. Read full review

  • 70
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    This is a pretty minor film from the filmmaker. It feels like more of an exercise in plotting and movie nostalgia than a story about real people. Read full review

  • 70
    Variety | Jonathan Holland

    A restless, rangy and frankly enjoyable genre-juggler that combines melodrama, comedy and more noir-hued darkness than ever before, the picture is held together by the extraordinary force of Almodovar's cinematic personality. Read full review

  • 50
    San Francisco Chronicle |

    It all adds up to an entertaining combination of suspense and melodrama, a movie that doesn't cohere too well - and veers toward the silly in its more-obvious plot mechanics. Read full review

View more reviews for Broken Embraces on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says not for kids Stylish Almodovar drama is too mature for teens.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this drama -- like Spanish director Pedro Almodovar's other movies -- is a complex, engrossing story with themes that are too mature for even most older teens, including infidelity and spousal abuse. Expect frank sexual discussion and some steamy scenes (lots of moaning and groaning, as well as a close-up view of naked breasts), domestic violence (a man pushes his wife down the stairs), swearing, and drug use.
  • Families can talk about the movie's messages and role models. Are any of the characters purely "good" or "bad"? What is the movie saying about love and relationships?
  • What do you think the movie's title means? To which embraces does it refer? Is it literal or metaphorical?
  • Why does Harry Caine abandon his identity? If he wanted to forget it, why does he then hang onto evidence of who he once was?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Although the drama here is heavy and complex and characters often behave questionably, the ultimate take away is that true love knows no bounds and, while often hard to attain, is worth the cost. The movie also sends that message that love manifests itself in many ways, not just through passion.
  • rolemodels true0 Positive role models: Some characters speak disparagingly of others, and others are portrayed stereotypically. A woman who marries a much older man out of gratitude later resents him and has an affair with another man (with whom she falls madly in love). A young man is a helpful friend to an older man, who returns the favor when he takes care of the boy after a drug trip gone bad. The rich flaunt their money through jewelry and clothing.
What to watch for
  • violence false2 Violence: A husband pushes his wife down the stairs, which breaks her legs. He also threatens her when she verbalizes her desire to leave him. A man shoves around another man who’s been following him with a camera. Husband and wife argue loudly.
  • sex false4 Sex: A man and a woman heave and moan on a sofa; nothing is seen, but it’s clear they’re having sex. Before the act, they engage in sexual banter, and, soon after, he fondles her breasts, which are seen close up. Another couple engages in a steamy embrace; they’re under the sheets, but their backs, shoulders, and legs are exposed. A woman talks about hating having sex with her husband, whom she pretends to like but despises. Frank talk about sex acts. A man talks crassly about his ex-wives with his current male lover.
  • language false3 Language: Everything from “son of a bitch” to “f--k" to "ass" to "for God's sake," though not used constantly. Some derogatory terms are also said.
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Nightclub DJs talk freely about drug use and offer each other MDMA, meth, and other substances. Characters snort cocaine. One collapses after having a drink spiked with roofies.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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