75
Metascore
21 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumPedro Almodovar's 1995 comic melodrama seems in many ways his most mature work, in theme as well as execution.... Almodovar's control over the material and his affection for his characters never falter.
- 80EmpireEmma CochraneEmpireEmma CochraneAlmodóvar lets rip with a story of great emotional intensity, while retaining his signature stunning visual style and a central performance quite unlike anything previously seen in his work. A potent and strikingly well-delivered combination.
- 80SalonSalonAlmodovar, who in the past has made dark comedy out of jealousy and infidelity and even rape and suicide, here casts a less absurdist, more empathetic eye on his characters. The world they navigate is still full of bizarre coincidences and random cruelties, but the filmmaker's stance is a little less distant, the laughter degrees warmer and the emotions correspondingly magnified.
- 78Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenAustin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenThough The Flower of My Secret is not as crazed as "Women on the Verge," the movie marks the return of Almodóvar's delicious humor and a departure from the nastier streak that this Spanish director has been on recently.
- 75San Francisco ChronicleEdward GuthmannSan Francisco ChronicleEdward GuthmannIt's a witty, intelligent scramble, and it's beautifully mounted.
- 75San Francisco ExaminerSan Francisco ExaminerThe Spanish filmmaker goes back to what he does better than any other living director - post-modernizing the melodrama.
- 70The New York TimesThe New York Times[Almodovar’s] returns to the mordant but sympathetic comedy of his early, best work. Though the new film is not as antic as "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown," it is funny and free of the nasty undertone that has made him seem tired and tiresome lately.
- 63ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliIt's bland as often as it is affecting, and presents little that's new or original.
- 50Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittPedro Almodovar's Spanish drama is his most involving work since the comedy "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown," but its mood of ironic melancholy doesn't hold up enough to make the picture a full success.
- 38Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe Flower of My Secret is likely to be disappointing to Almodovar's admirers, and inexplicable to anyone else.