Flower of My Secret

With perhaps his most accessible film since Women On the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, provocateur Pedro Almovodar plays it straight with this comparatively subdued melodrama starring Marisa Parades as Leo, who, under a pseudonym, is the successful writer of romance novels. But with the breakup of her marriage, her heart is no longer in her work. This heartfelt drama is not without its quirky characters (Leo's maid is revealed to be a former flamenco dancer who performed with her son), but it is certainly less outrageous than his past work and more in the tradition of Hollywood's legendary "women's director" George Cukor. Recommended. (K. Lee Benson)