Antonio Banderas is deeply touching in this uneven effort from Almódovar

At 69, Pedro Almódovar is in career-recap mode, and has dipped his toes into self-reflexive nostalgia far later than Federico Fellini, a mere pup at 43 when he made 8½. Pain and Glory centres on a filmmaker named Salvador Mallo (Antonio Banderas), whose greatest works are behind him, and who's resting on his laurels, at least as far as he can: he has chronic back pain after surgery for fused vertebrae, and the spinal scars to prove it. Unlike Almódovar himself, who has consistently knocked out a film every two or three years, Salvador is in the throes of classic cinematic writer's block, equating him more with Mastroianni's character in the Fellini film. [...]

di Tim Robey, articolo completo (4311 caratteri spazi inclusi) su The Daily Telegraph 17 maggio 2019