All About My Mother

One thing about watching movies by Pedro Almodovar: you don't complacently sit back and yawn, "I've seen this before." Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, this melodrama is rich with colorful incidents and characters. Cecilia Roth heads a magnificent ensemble as Manuela, whose beloved 17-year-son Estebatbn is fatally hit by a car when he tries to obtain a favorite actress's autograph. Setting out for Barcelona to track down the father her son never knew, Manuela's search begins in a Fellini-esque outdoor hangout called "the field," where she is reunited with Agrado, an indomitable transvestite prostitute. Eventually, she will also meet the actress Huma Rojo (Marisa Paredes), who was oblivious to her son's death, and Sister Rosa (Penelope Cruz), a nun who once tended Esteban's father. Mere synopsis does not do this film justice. All About My Mother gives new meaning to the "circle of life," as Manuela, who coordinates and appears in educational videos promoting organ transplants, is forced to make that tragic decision herself when Esteban is killed. Also, as a former actress who once appeared in A Streetcar Named Desire, Manuela finds herself back on the stage as Stella 20 years later. Coincidence and passion are always in fashion in Almodovar's world. Highly recommended. (K. Lee Benson)