Almodóvar at his finest, arguably also his tamest

Near-unsolvable moral dilemmas. Sexual expression a la kink. Criss-crossed gender roles. No, I'm not talking about the latest political scandal. Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar is back at his old tricks with his new film, the critically-acclaimed and controversial "Talk to Her." Cleaning up on an international level, the film has garnered a mass of awards and has been nominated for two Academy awards, for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. \nAlmodóvar's last film, the equally critically-lauded "All About My Mother," was high melodrama steeped in sheer eccentricity with its transvestite hookers, a pregnant nun, and a gender-crossing dad. Yet it still found a way to get into our hearts and won the Best Foreign Film Oscar. With "Talk to Her," Almodóvar doesn't so much give up his obsession with sexually-intricate eccentricity, as much as he more subtly directs it. Trust me, it's all there. Revolving around two men who are brought together by the literally comatose women they love, Almodóvar weaves a story that is every bit as tender as it is weirdly erotic.\nJavier Cámara plays to deadpan perfection a male nurse, Benigno, who spent the entirety of his youth caring for his mother night and day. Benigno is at the heart of Almodóvar's film, a man who seems full of compassion, who refuses to regard his sleeping beauties as hollow shells, but real women. But watch as Almodóvar, with scalpel precision, begins to reveal layer after complex layer and we find this compassion begin to bleed into sheer obsessiveness. His sexuality called into question by the characters and audience alike. Is he an overstuffed teddy bear or an undersexed psychopath waiting to happen? Darío Grandinetti plays a writer, Marco, who moves from moment to trembling moment, his eyes ever-wet with sadness. Marco's love is Lydia, one of the rare female bullfighters in a male-dominated sport, whose coma is a result of being gored. \nAlmodóvar does a superb job of directing, mixing a masterful martini of uproarious silliness with unsuspecting seriousness, leaving film fanatics intoxicated with his skill. One scene in particular cuts between an absolutely scandalous silent film and a situation whose gravity we don't realize until too late. With twists that leave the jaw on the floor and a tissue at the eye, take the time to listen to what Almodóvar is saying in "Talk to Her"