Manolete

"I'm just your mistress, Death is your wife." A true story about the love between Matador Manolete (Brody) and the woman he falls in love with Lupe Sino (Cruz). When aging bullfighter Manolete is told that a younger matador is as good or better then he is, he begins to try and cheat death even more. Will the love of Lupe help him in the ring, or endanger him? This is another very slow moving movie. The acting is very good and the scenery and bullfights are fun to watch and look at, but it just doesn't really seem to go anywhere sometimes. This movie is at its core a love story, mixed in with the action of the bullfight. There is actual footage of the real Manolete mixed in with the filmed scenes that is a very nice touch and adds to the experience. Not knowing anything about the real people or story I have no idea how accurate this is, but the love at times is tested to the limits. Overall I would say this is more of a movie that women will enjoy more then men, but it's not a horrible thing to have to sit through. I have sat through much, much worse. A very OK movie, nothing to special. I give it a B-.

Would I watch again? - I don't think I will.

I'm not really into Spain or bullfighting. So if this this movie just appealed at first for the dynamic Penélope, finally, it totally hooks me.

The first great thing is the talent of Adrian Brody. It's true as Pené said that he the most beautiful ugly man but he exudes such humanity that he is also the most underrated actor! Here, he is totally convincing as a legendary sportsman and shy boyfriend.

Next, the director (a newcomer for me) is talented as well: he has a great "eye" and offers totally stunning and poetic visuals: I like how he plays with Spain flag, with the washing as the red cape for the bull. He does the same parallel with love and bullfight. At the end, the use of revolving doors enhances a lot the drama. His cinematography is vivid, full of colors and we can really appreciate the Spanish culture (thus, I realized that it keeps its Arabic history as well).

At last, the two big themes (passion, bullfight) are depicted like a mystic experience. It's not just a simple romance but a burning love and bullfight is beyond sport, it's a tradition. So, as our two lovers are passionate but also defective, the movie heads full speed at a tragedy and the editing is totally right as it ticks like a clock, balancing with the past and present.

It's true that my French DVD is only 88 minutes and the movie is dynamic without time-out.

In conclusion, it's a superb surprise and I urge even the anti bullfight to watch it because it's not a absurd slaughter!

Manolete fascinated me from the very beginning with a fantastic score and once I saw Adrien Brody I knew the movie would be good. This actor somehow never disappoints and here he hadn't either; in fact I can easily shout out to all of the actors who made their characters into living human beings. The story of a bull fighter called Manolete is told in the very eyes of Adrien Brody who, even when he's not speaking, gives more to the viewer than perhaps the director himself had intended to. In his sad eyes there's great sorrow and even greater love for a woman who he cannot give up but also cannot take in as his whole heart and soul is in the thing he does for a living and he doesn't imagine his life without it. There comes a time in everyone's lives when we have to choose what's more important to us - career or family and Manolete has made his choice long before he met Lupe, played stupendiously by Penelope Cruz. I wouldn't call this movie a great one though as it lacks proper pacing, has at times bad editing and continuation failures, some scenes are extremely long whereas others don't give enough and this contrast leads the movie to the end and leaves you with mixed emotions because the story itself, although as old as the world, is told from an unusual angle and is dramatically perfect but the way it was shown was far from it.

... and nothing more. sure, it is a nice film. and a not bad homage to a great matador. but the coherence of story is absent. the roots of story - reduced at sketches. the love story, the dramatic love story, only as occasion for remind slices from soap opera. and the only problem is, in fact, the cast. Adrien Brody deserves a better script. Penelope Lopez has the science to give more than a series character. something fundamental is wrong in this case. and this is all.

Nice costumes and great actors do not make a movie great. A good story does. Too bad the original writer, Bill Crown, was bumped out of the process by those who hijacked the project. I guess Karma decided the fate of the film.

1200 pages of research were prepared but obviously not used. This is a story about a real man living in real times. Taking poetic liberties is fine, but there has to be authenticity for a film like this to work.

Brody hot off his Oscar was perfectly suited to the role. Penelope Cruise, wisely selected as the love interest also internationally recognized, should have brought forth faithful followers. A formula that would have worked had not the intentions of the story been skewed so far off mark.