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Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!

¡Átame!

1989

Pedro Almodóvar

Antonio Banderas, Victoria Abril, Francisco Rabal, Loles León ...

6.5

19,964

Drama. Comedy. Romance Antonio Banderas plays Ricky, an orphan who spent most of his youth escaping and returning to the orphanage. Upon his release, he goes to find B-movie actress Marina and kidnaps her in her own home. Ricky is desperate to get Marina to love him, although he keeps her tied up while he goes out to buy drugs for her. The plot centres around these two and Marina's sister, Lola, finds her tied to Lola's bed and they make a dash to escape.

	Author	Review
United States	Variety	"Almodovar’s inventive direction, superb lensing by Jose Luis Alcaine, a fine score by Ennio Morricone and top technical credits make pic a pleasure to watch."	POS
United States	Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"This story has been told before, and better (...) It's most entertaining in the quiet times in between the big moments (...) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"	NEU
United States	Vincent Canby The New York Times	"A surprisingly tame comedy (...) Mr. Almodovar's comic invention runs out too soon, leaving the audience to giggle weakly in anticipation of the big laughs and disorienting shocks that never arrive."	NEG
United States	Rita Kempley The Washington Post	"A writer-director driven by his passion, Almodovar allows his movies to moan and sweat and writhe. Sex looks like sex, not pornographic but messy and warm."	POS
United States	Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly	"Seamlessly crafted yet too self-conscious to be much fun. It’s the characters’ emotions that seem in bondage."	NEU
United States	Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"Divided feelings are at the heart of Almodóvar's disturbing and invigorating film, another masterwork from Spain's most explosive talent."	POS
United States	Clayton Dillard Slant	"Almodóvar’s brilliance here isn’t merely a potpourri of references, colors, and camp; rather, it’s within his probing of cinematic sexuality (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Damon Wise Empire	"Well-meaning but casually empty, in comparison to Almodovar's later works (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS

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