There are few, if indeed any, filmmakers who can consistently combine drama, tragedy, and comedy into thought-provoking, artistic films.  Pedro Almodovar certainly falls into this category and Talk To Her is certainly characteristic of this nature of a movie.  His follow-up film to the terrific All About My Mother comes close to matching the former in terms of emotional storytelling with some of the most interesting characters you will ever see on film.  And this movie, just like every film by Almodovar, contains those weird and wildly creative scenes that you will never see in other films.

      We are first introduced to Benigno who is a male nurse and who has been spending most of his life caring for two bedridden women.  Caring for his mother for so many years without any kind of social life or friendships has consumed Benigno's life up until the past four years where he has been attending to a girl named Alicia, a ballet student who has been in a coma during this time.  His all consuming compassion for Alicia is obvious thru his painstaking care for her, as evidenced by constant body massages and talking to her for every possible moment that he can.

      Then we meet Marco who is a journalist that we see who has deep emotional scars from a breakup with a previous lover.  He is assigned to do an interview with a controversial woman bullfighter named Lydia.  They soon begin a romance but things go terribly wrong when Lydia is gored by a bull and is left in a coma.  It appears possibly that Lydia let the bull gore her on purpose which leaves Marco filled with guilt and anguish over what has happened.

      As both Alicia and Lydia are in the same hospital with their comas, Marco and Benigno soon meet and form a powerful, close-bond friendship as both have the women they love in comas and possibly who may never again regain conciseness.  It becomes obvious that Benigno is a troubled, if not downright disturbed, individual and he commits an act which lands him in prison. And while emotionally scarred, Marco is still a rational person and tries his best to help Benigno and keep him informed of how Alicia is doing.  And of course at the same time, he is totally consumed and worried about Lydia.

      Talk To Her is a unique film because it is a rare one where instead of women, two men are doing a lot of deep and meaningful talking to one another.  And while Benigno is obsessed with Alicia, he is obviously unsure about his own sexuality and his attraction to Marco may or may not be more than friendship.  Some of the clues about Benigno's character are told in flashback, such as a scene showing him spying on Alicia from his window while she is dancing in the ballet studio across the street.  And to show the importance that Benigno has in trying to understand women and to get inside their psyches, a silent film is shown on-screen and  described by Benigno, in only the imaginative way that Almodovar can create. This scene will make some people gasp, some people laugh, and some people moved by what it represents.

      The acting all around is nothing less than brilliant.  Even Alicia who spends most of her time on-screen in a coma is remarkably beautiful and mesmerizing while she lays on her bed in constant sleep.  Both the two male leads are terrific and give real and powerful performances.  Cámara as Benigno plays a creepy and disturbed individual, but at the same time he makes the audience feel sorry for him.  Grandinetti effectively shows a man who is on the surface a smart and rational person, but who underneath is filled with pain.

      Everything about this film is right.  From the dancing and ballet sequences to the scenes of bullfighting, every detail seems to be just right to bring a sense of realism to these strange events filled with tragedy.  But don't let me infer that this movie is a real downer.  Almodovar puts in enough of his unique and off-beat humor into the drama that unfolds to make the audience often laugh.  And the film has some uplifting moments so that you will not walk out of the theatre down and depressed.

      I really liked this film and strongly recommend it.  And while All About My Mother might a more rich and powerful film, Talk To Her is not very far behind it.

      If you like moving dramatic films which are filled with interesting characters and containing highly original artistic scenes and moments, then this film is not to be missed.