Shock director Pedro Almodóvar is in sentimental storytelling mood here. Middle-aged Leo (Marisa Paredes) is the bored, miserable author of fluffy romance novels taking to drink. She's offered some less lightweight work by a newspaper, which she initially refuses, but then returns from a trip in the country to write a nasty piece on Amanda Gris - her own pseudonym. Her publishers are not pleased at her change of material, but she's slowly learning to get out of her rut. Meanwhile, her latest work has been stolen by her housekeeper's son! A lot more low-key and 'regular' than the director's usual films, this also has less comic and wacky moments and might have been more suited to book form: nevertheless it does keep the viewer watching and rooting for its heroine.

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