High heels are tricksy things. They can elevate women (or cross-dressing men) to newfound heights, put forward a sharp statement of style and bring a touch of fragile elegance. Alternatively, they can be a perilous foot pain that will inevitably lead to trips, falls and ultimate tragedy. Tacones lejanos is more of a disappointment trip than a stylish high riser.

Almodóvar's mother-daughter drama is stylish for sure, but in terms of plot it's a tongue-tied and tedious affair full of confusing, complex characters that never fully engage or make sense. A few moments of comedy aside, Tacones lejanos just isn't interesting. The best bit comes at the beginning in a marvellously macabre case of manslaughter orchestrated by a child. From this brilliant bit of black comedy things are looking up, but then the film comes to a heel.

There's solid enough acting performances and there's some stylish, arty direction that you'd expect from Almodóvar, but otherwise Tacones lejanos isn't an impressive piece of Spanish cinema. With a story of murder, showbiz, femininity, fractured mother-daughter relationship and a character who is alternately a judge, a transvestite and a police informer this could have been a melodramatic powerhouse. Instead it's poor. High Heels stumbles for sure.
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Högklackat är knepigt. De kan lyfta kvinnor (eller korsklädda män) till nyfunna höjder, lägga fram ett skarpt uttryck av stil och föra en touch av bräcklig elegans. Alternativt kan de vara en farofylld fotsmärta som oundvikligen kommer att leda till resor, fall och slutlig tragedi. Tacones lejanos är mer av en besvikelse resa än en snygg hög stigar. Almodóvars mor-dotter-drama är stilrent, men vad gäller intrig är det en tungbunden och tråkig affär full av förvirrande, komplexa karaktärer som aldrig engagerar sig fullt ut eller är förnuftiga. Ett par ögonblick av komedi åt sidan, Tacones lejanos är bara inte intressant. Den bästa biten kommer i början i ett fantastiskt makabert fall av dråp iscensatt av ett barn. Från denna lysande bit av svart komedi ser saker upp, men sedan kommer filmen till en klack. Det finns tillräckligt många skådespelarföreställningar och det finns några stilfulla, konstnärliga riktningar som du kan förvänta dig av Almodóvar, men annars Tacones lejanos är inte en imponerande bit av spansk film. Med en berättelse om mord, showbiz, kvinnlighet, bruten mor-dotter-relation och en karaktär som omväxlande är domare, transvestit och polisangivare kunde detta ha varit ett melodramatiskt krafthus. Istället är det fattigt. Höga Häls snubblar säkert. Hur skulle du beskriva känslan av denna recension? ALTERNATIV: - negativ - positiv
High heels are tricky. They can lift women (or cross-dressed men) to new found heights, present a sharp expression of style and bring a touch of fragile elegance. Alternatively, they may be a dangerous foot pain that will inevitably lead to travel, fall, and final tragedy. Tacone's lejanos are more of a disappointing journey than a stylish high paths. Almodóvar's mother-daughter drama is stylish, but in plot it is a tongue-bound and boring affair full of confusing, complex characters who never engage fully or are sensible. A few moments of comedy aside, Tacone's lejanos are just not interesting. The best part comes in the beginning in a fantastic macabre case of manslaughter staged by a child. From this brilliant piece of black comedy things look up, but then the film comes to a heel. There are enough acting performances and there are some stylish, artistic directions that you can expect from Almodóvar, but otherwise Tacone's lejanos are not an impressive piece of Spanish film. With a story of murder, showbiz, femininity, broken mother-daughter relationship and a character alternately judge, transvestite, and police informer, this could have been a melodramatic powerhouse. Instead, it's poor. I'm sure High Häls stumbles. How would you describe the feeling of this review? ALTERNATIVE: - negative - positive
negativ
negative