ign logo IGN.com | AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | GameSpy | FilePlanet | TeamXbox | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | Direct2Drive

RottenTomatoes.com

RT Bug Squash
Home Movies DVD Celebrities News Critics Photos & Trailers The Vine Forums
Box Office | Best Of | Certified Fresh | Showtimes
Register for free site & special features! | Log In | What is RT?
                       
MOVIES / ON DVD / LAW OF DESIRE
Law of Desire

Rate This Movie

Write a Review
Share This Movie
Add to List
Buy Poster

Bookmark and Share

Law of Desire (1987)

100%
N/A
78%
N/A
N/A
N/A
100 %
Reviews Counted: 10 Fresh: 10  Rotten:0 Average Rating: 7.4/10
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Synopsis:
This bold tale of passion's dire consequences is one of Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar's most smoldering films. Antonio Banderas stars as Antonio Benítez, an obsessive fan of writer-director Pablo Quintero (Eusebio Poncela), a cocaine-snorting homosexual hedonist whose last... [More]
This bold tale of passion's dire consequences is one of Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar's most smoldering films. Antonio Banderas stars as Antonio Benítez, an obsessive fan of writer-director Pablo Quintero (Eusebio Poncela), a cocaine-snorting homosexual hedonist whose last boyfriend, Juan (Miguel Molina), has just moved out. Antonio and Pablo have a few passionate nights, but Antonio's obsessive love soon proves hard for the noncommittal Pablo to escape from. Meanwhile, Pablo's transsexual sister, Tina (Carmen Maura), has problems of her own, including a closet brimming with dark sexual skeletons and Ada (Manuela Velasco), her unofficially adopted daughter. Pablo writes a play for Tina to star in, but when Antonio stalks and murders Juan in a fit of jealousy, the police end up suspecting the character Tina performs in the play. Pablo winds up with amnesia after a car accident, and the troubles just get weirder from there. For American audiences unfamiliar with Almodóvar's style, this film may prove a shocking experience, but his fans know that beneath their transgressive exteriors, his films throb with a palpable love of humanity, life, beauty, and art. This is a fine example of that art, with great music and memorable performances all around. [Less]

Genre: Foreign Films

Starring: Carmen Maura, Eusebio Poncela, Antonio Banderas

Director: Pedro Almodóvar

DVD Info

Release:

Nov 30, 1999

[DVD Details]

Reviews

 
T-Meter Critics
 
 
Top Critics
 
 
RT Community
 
 
My Critics
 
 
My Friends
 
 
DVD
 
 
 
1 - 12 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View
Arrange By: Name | Fresh | Rotten | Date | Source
 
 
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
06/24/06 04:29 AM
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
05/24/03 08:05 AM
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

provocative psychological study about the potential devastating cost of wanton love

Full Review | Comment
01/24/07 07:25 PM
John A. Nesbit
Old School Reviews
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
10/08/06 03:16 AM
Ethan Alter
NYC Film Critic
Ratings Image

Almodóvar’s affection for his characters ... makes his engagingly loopy narrative more than a simple Telemundo-on-acid joke.

Full Review | Comment
05/04/05 11:20 AM
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness
Ratings Image

No review available.

| Comment
12/18/04 08:57 PM
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Ratings Image

What it lacks in depth, 'Law of Desire' makes up in surface energy, with a lively cast, a turbulent plot and a textbook-worthy collection of case histories.

Full Review | Comment
08/30/04 10:16 PM
Janet Maslin
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

No review available.

| Comment
06/17/04 06:20 AM
Randy Shulman
Metro Weekly (Washington, DC)
Ratings Image

A bold, daring work that is as shocking and impressive today as it was nearly 20 years ago when it was first released.

Full Review | Comment
03/01/04 04:39 PM
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Ratings Image

[A] great film from Spanish director Pedro Almódovar’s early career...

Full Review | Comment
03/10/03 08:16 AM
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle
Ratings Image

No review available.

| Comment
10/25/02 02:46 PM
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Ratings Image

The film bristles with energy and bright interludes before the lugubrious plot takes over...

Full Review | Comment
01/01/00 12:00 AM
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
1 - 12 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View
See More Topics...

Related Forums

Click here to be the first to post a message on this forum.
all

Pictures

Around the Network

• Law of Desire at Rotten Tomatoes
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | ModCenter | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive

By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2008, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.