Opening today at three theaters in Manhattan and two in Los Angeles, Almodóvar's overdue return to comedy, Los amantes pasajeros (downgraded in English to "I'm So Excited!"), has garnered mixed reaction from twenty reviewers whose average rating on Metacritic is 61 of 100. The action unfolds on a troubled transatlantic flight, "which transforms the plane into a theater and its galley into a staging area for those three theatrical stewards." The 63 year-old director says it's his gayest film, yet I hear the sex scenes are only hetero. Happy to read his opening title sequence is once again a "candy-colored, Saul Bass–style" feast.
Variety: "...a hugely entertaining, feelgood celebration of human sexuality that unfolds as a cathartic experience for characters, audiences and helmer alike."
EW: "the movie is like a helium balloon with a leak in it."
Empire: "an unshakeable tolerance for high camp and lowbrow humour may be required to fully appreciate Almodóvar’s broad, bawdy comedy — even for fans of his early, funny films."
Indie Wire: "Scene after scene features a self-satisfied kookiness akin to spending time with a terrible comic unwilling to give up the mic."
Bizarrely, Sony Classics is rolling it out slowly. Next week the release expands in California and only adds Chicago and downtown DC. Two weeks from today, Florida, Scottsdale, Cambridge, Waltham, and suburban DC. See the full schedule.
Earlier this month Pedro and three of his actors discussed the film at Lincoln Center, below.
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