Bad Education

As with most films from Spanish cinema provocateur Pedro Almodóvar, Bad Education hinges on idiosyncratic, sexually ironic, consequential twists of fate involving characters that are more complex than they at first seem. This comedy-drama is about two grown men still deeply affected by boyhood sexual abuse in the Catholic church: one (Fele Martinez from Almodóvar's Talk to Her) a successful movie producer, and the other (Gael Garcia Bernal, The Motorcycle Diaries) a failed actor and a sometimes-transvestite who visits his old friend hoping to sell an apparently autobiographical script. As a movie-within-a-movie unfolds, becoming intertwined with the film's reality, Bernal's insinuation into Martinez's life becomes increasingly disconcerting, and at times it's hard not to second-guess the characters' questionable choices and often erratic behavior. But the performances are brilliant and Almodóvar's story is an intricate one, knotted with intimate humanity and engrossing in its sudden left turns. Also: the NC-17 rating is absurd--if the film's sex scenes had featured women instead of men the MPAA wouldn't have blinked an eye. Recommended. [Note: Available in either an R-rated or NC-17 version, DVD extras include audio commentary by director Pedro Almodóvar, red carpet footage from the AFI Film Festival (19 min.), two deleted scenes (5 min.), a two-minute “making-of” montage, a poster gallery, and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for another solid Almodóvar genre-bender.] (R. Blackwelder)