The Skin I Live In [La piel que habito] (2011)
Starring Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, and Marisa Paredes
Directed by Pedro Almodóvar
It's not that The Skin I Live In is bad...it's simply that its story is odd (and I don't want to spoil it too greatly). Basically, Antonio Banderas is Robert Ledgard, a world renowned surgeon who, after his wife was horrifically burned in a car crash several years prior, throws himself into the task of creating an artificial skin to help burn victims live a better life. In and of itself, that's the basic storyline. However, throw in a woman (Elena Anaya) secretly locked up in Ledgard's house for reasons unknown, a maid (Marisa Paredes) with a son who has a fondness for sex crimes, and a guy on a motorcycle who winds up at the wrong place at the wrong time, and the film absolutely scores high on the soap opera aspects.
Admittedly, I wasn't bored a single bit while watching this movie. It successfully held my interest and when it ended, my thought was, "Well, that was interesting." I still think it was "interesting" two days removed, but I also can't help but think that there just wasn't a believable story there which ultimately hurt the flick. The over-the-top storyline perhaps makes for a fun watch, but it causes the flick to lose any resonance as the days pass.
Still, The Skin I Live In is a flick that I'm happy I watched. There's a nice performance from Antonio Banderas and a subdued though intriguing turn from Elena Anaya as Ledgard's captive. The direction by Almodóvar certainly intrigued me enough to check out some more of his films, but I worry a bit that his kooky screenwriting is something that I just might not be able to fully embrace.
The RyMickey Rating: C+
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