Volver

"Peopled with superbly drawn, attractive characters smoothly integrated into a well-turned, low-tricks plotline, "Volver" may rep Almodovar's most conventional piece to date, but it is also his most reflective, a subdued, sometimes intense and often comic homecoming that celebrates the pueblo and people that shaped his imagination..."

"Very few filmmakers have managed to smile so convincingly in the face of misery and fatality: Jean Renoir and Billy Wilder come immediately to mind, and Mr. Almodóvar, if he is not yet their equal, surely belongs in their company..."

"Lower your expectations going into "Volver" and accept it for what it is: a ridiculously entertaining melodrama with loud echoes of "Mildred Pierce" that provides Penelope Cruz with a vehicle for her multifaceted talents..."

"In Volver, a movie that leaps off the screen to take its place in your dreams, the writer-director tells a ghost story that manages to include lust, incest, rape and murder. You'll laugh, too -- wildly, helplessly -- because to Almodovar, laughter is life..."

"Spanish maestro Almodovar composes a hymn to female solidarity which includes the most vigorous performance from Penelope Cruz since she went Hollywood..."

"It's very difficult to mesh fantasy with reality, but with great charm and a light touch, Almodovar shows exactly how it should be done..."