BROKEN EMBRACES / ***½

Distributor: Sony Classics
Release Date: November 20, 2009
Genre: Foreign
Running Time: 105 minutes
MPAA Rating: R

Watching films about characters who are filmmakers is usually an engaging concept. After all, filmmakers certainly know a lot more about making films than they do about being a police officer, or playing sports, for example.

When the writer and director of said film is one as skilled as Pedro Almodóvar, my level of interest goes even higher. While I haven’t seen all of his films (“Bad Education” and “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” have eluded me), I’ve never seen a bad Almodóvar film, and I wonder if he’s even capable of making one.

“Embraces” stars Penelope Cruz (frequent Almodóvar collaborator and muse) as Lena, a wannabe actor who works as a receptionist for the super wealthy Ernesto Martel (José Luis Gómez). When her father becomes ill, Martel financially takes care of him. Cut to several years later, and now Lena and Martel are a couple.

The other side of the story follows a man named Harry Caine (Lluís Homar), a blind screenwriter who doesn’t let his lack of sight preclude him from hooking up with gorgeous women who help him cross the street. One day Harry is visited by the mysterious Ray X (Rubén Ochandiano), who wants Harry to write a film about his father. It doesn’t take long to figure out where some of these pieces fit.

From here Almodóvar seamlessly integrates flashbacks into the narrative to tell the story of how Lena, Martel, Caine, and Ray X are entwined in each others’ lives. The style of the film is reminiscent of classic Hitchcock, as Almodóvar lets the tension build slowly and never betrays the audience’s trust with gratuitous twists and turns.

Key to the success of the film is the luminous performance of Penelope Cruz. She handles every facet of the character with a powerful movie-star charm that is no doubt accentuated by the quality of material that Almodóvar gives her. Cruz may have been nominated for “Nine,” but this is her real best performance this year.

Theater: The Ruth Sokolof Theater, Omaha, NE
Time: 120 pm
Date: February 4, 2010

NINE / **½

Distributor: Weinstein Company
Release Date: December 18, 2009
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 110 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13

Before it came out, “Nine” was highly touted as a big contender this awards season. After all, it was directed by Rob Marshall, who helmed the Oscar-winning “Chicago.” It stars Oscar winners Daniel Day-Lewis (“There Will Be Blood”), Marion Cotillard (“La Vie en Rose”), Nicole Kidman (“The Hours”), Judi Dench (“Shakespeare in Love”), Penelope Cruz (“Vicky Cristina Barcelona”), and Oscar nominee Kate Hudson (“Almost Famous”). Oh yeah, and Fergie.

Then it actually came out, and landed with a loud thud with critics and audiences alike. Now having seen the film it’s not hard to understand why. While it features a couple of fun songs, and good performances from Cotillard and Cruz, “Nine” is largely flat and emotionally distant. Even the great Day-Lewis is uncharacteristically dull.

Day-Lewis stars as Guido Contini, a film director whose early films were great, but is coming off a couple of flops. He’s trying to get back into the public’s good graces with his next film, “Italia,” starring the popular Claudia (Kidman). The only problem is that there is no script, and Guido has no real idea for what he wants to do.

Guido is a man defined by his relationships with the women that surround him. There’s his wife Luisa (Cotillard), his mistress Carla (Cruz), his costume designer Lilli (Dench), his star Claudia, his Mamma (Sophia Loren), the seductress Saraghina (Fergie), and Vogue writer Stephanie (Hudson). All of these characters are infinitely more interesting than Guido, yet they all orbit around his sun.

As was the case with Marshall’s previous two films, “Chicago” and “Memoirs of a Geisha,” the costumes and set design is top notch. Most of the musical numbers, especially Hudson’s “Cinema Italiano,” Cotillard’s “Take It All,” and Fergie’s “Be Italian” are really well done; it’s just the in between times that aren’t nearly as compelling.

The film is based on a play that itself was based on Federico Fellini’s seminal “8½.” It’s great source material, but it seems that something got lost in the translation.

Theater: RDM Westroads 14, Omaha, NE
Time: 525 pm
Date: January 13, 2010