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All About My Mother (1999) Rank 4 Reviews

Expert Review Summary
Movie critics combined give All About My Mother (1999) a score of 3.2912 out of 4
based on (118) reviews
Click on the numbers to the right of the graph to see reviews of that rating
Excellent
4
Excellent
(52)
Very Good
3
Very Good
(62)
Good
2
Good
(3)
Fair
1
Fair
(1)
Poor
0
Poor
(0)
Reviews by Score:
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for New York Daily News (Jami Bernard)New York Daily News (Jami Bernard)
Almodovar is adept at weaving together strands you'd never guess would match. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at New York Daily News (Jami Bernard)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)
The filmmaker peppers the movie with stylistic references to the women-loving films of directors George Cukor and Douglas Sirk and pays tribute to Williams' greatest character, the tragic Blanche Dubois of A Streetcar Named Desire . ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Slant Magazine (Ed Gonzalez)Slant Magazine (Ed Gonzalez)
Pedro Almodóvar's best film to date, a heart-breaking paean to femininity, the maternal instinct and the thirst for drama. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Slant Magazine (Ed Gonzalez)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) (Ken Hanke)Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) (Ken Hanke)
An over-the-top collection of outrageous characters in improbable circumstances that all manage to interconnect, forming a film of incredible power, humor and finally beauty. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) (Ken Hanke)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Globe and Mail (Liam Lacey)Globe and Mail (Liam Lacey)
This self-styled 'screwball melodrama,' a dance of grief, comedy, coincidence and resilience -- has a genuine emotional impact unlike anything Almodovar has done before. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Globe and Mail (Liam Lacey)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Boxoffice Magazine (Lael Loewenstein)Boxoffice Magazine (Lael Loewenstein)
Using his trademark bright color palette and bits of nearly farcical comedy to offset the occasionally somber story, Almodovar creates an impressively rich, evocative film replete with uniformly fine performances. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Boxoffice Magazine (Lael Loewenstein)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for culturevulture.net (Gary Mairs)culturevulture.net (Gary Mairs)
All About My Mother marks an enormous leap forward for Almodovar. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at culturevulture.net (Gary Mairs)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for watchingmovies.com (Rob McKinnon)watchingmovies.com (Rob McKinnon)
PEDRO ALMODÓVAR has created a masterpiece of filmmaking. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at watchingmovies.com (Rob McKinnon)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for rec.arts.movies.reviews (Susan Granger)rec.arts.movies.reviews (Susan Granger)
It's 1999's best foreign language film. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at rec.arts.movies.reviews (Susan Granger)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for AboutFilm.com (Jeff Vorndam)AboutFilm.com (Jeff Vorndam)
...bold and lively filmmaking, which plumbs jewels from cinema's past and builds on them to resonate in new directions. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at AboutFilm.com (Jeff Vorndam)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Detroit News (Susan Stark)Detroit News (Susan Stark)
Funny, provocative and deeply sympathetic in its wide embrace of women and those who would be women, All About My Mother is a beacon of a film. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Detroit News (Susan Stark)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Mixed Reviews (Gabriel Shanks)Mixed Reviews (Gabriel Shanks)
Both an expansion of Almodovar's famous candy-colored vision and a maturation of his ingenious directorial style. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Mixed Reviews (Gabriel Shanks)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for efilmcritic.com (Robert Flaxman)efilmcritic.com (Robert Flaxman)
All About My Mother spins a number of narrative threads, not all of which it is especially interested in cleaning up. The basic plot follows Manuela (Cecilia Roth), who lives in Madrid with her 17-year-old son. When he is killed in a car accident, she ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at efilmcritic.com (Robert Flaxman)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for EricDSnider.com (Eric D. Snider)EricDSnider.com (Eric D. Snider)
Succeeds in a number of gentle, gratifying ways. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at EricDSnider.com (Eric D. Snider)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Entertainment Weekly (Lisa Schwarzbaum)Entertainment Weekly (Lisa Schwarzbaum)
Almodóvar's masterwork, is a spectacular synthesis of everything that has always interested him -- proud women, lovely boys, beautiful drag queens, grand movie stars, gorgeous frocks, wild wallpaper . ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Entertainment Weekly (Lisa Schwarzbaum)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for Deseret News, Salt Lake City (Jeff Vice)Deseret News, Salt Lake City (Jeff Vice)
Almodovar's latest -- and perhaps greatest -- work to date. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Deseret News, Salt Lake City (Jeff Vice)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 4.00 out of 4 stars for PopcornQ (--)PopcornQ (--)
The film begins with nurse named Manuela (played by a transcendent Cecilia Roth) who loses her only son Esteban, a handsome 17-year-old, on a rainy night in Madrid. Unable to cope, she heads for the safety of her past in Barcelona. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at PopcornQ (--)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.75 out of 4 stars for Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
One must give Almodóvar credit for getting his voice heard in the mainstream while keeping his artististic integrity intact. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.75 out of 4 stars for Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Paula Nechak)Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Paula Nechak)
A dizzying, marvelously acted rush of a movie that may, after more than 20 films, finally give Almodovar a wider crossover appeal. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Paula Nechak)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.75 out of 4 stars for Film Frat (--)Film Frat (--)
Generally speaking, the handful of foreign-language films I have seen were positive experiences. Life Is Beautiful is not only the best foreign film that I've seen, it's also one of my favorite movies of all time. Amelie was also enjoyable during every ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Film Frat (--)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.75 out of 4 stars for Cinema-Scene.com (David Perry)Cinema-Scene.com (David Perry)
Pedro Almodóvar's ode to all that is woman comes as more of a achievement than I'd ever expect. In forethought, the film seemed to be a quick suck-up job for Almodóvar, giving a nice little present to his mother and all the women that have touched his ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Cinema-Scene.com (David Perry)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for Jigsaw Lounge (Neil Young)Jigsaw Lounge (Neil Young)
...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Jigsaw Lounge (Neil Young)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for Reeling Reviews (Laura Clifford)Reeling Reviews (Laura Clifford)
A satisfying emotional journey. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Reeling Reviews (Laura Clifford)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
A surprisingly satisfying combination of bawdy sexual humor, genuine emotion and a plot with mechanics so excessive that Almodóvar himself calls it "a screwball ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for Salon.com (Stephanie Zacharek)Salon.com (Stephanie Zacharek)
So intrinsically rich that it doesn't need any metaphors. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Salon.com (Stephanie Zacharek)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for Salon.com (Stephanie Zacharek)Salon.com (Stephanie Zacharek)
All About My Mother is a movie so intrinsically rich that it doesn't need any metaphors. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Salon.com (Stephanie Zacharek)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for Lobo Howls (Judith Wolfe)Lobo Howls (Judith Wolfe)
The entire ensemble cast is fabulous. I cried, I laughed and I cheered with all of the characters. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Lobo Howls (Judith Wolfe)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for The New York Times (Janet Maslin)The New York Times (Janet Maslin)
It weaves life and art into a rich tapestry of love, loss and compassion. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at The New York Times (Janet Maslin)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for Village Voice (J. Hoberman)Village Voice (J. Hoberman)
As straightforward and plot-driven as any movie about life imitating art imitating life could possibly be. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Village Voice (J. Hoberman)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for LA Weekly (Ella Taylor)LA Weekly (Ella Taylor)
Just about everyone worth knowing in All About My Mother is female in spirit, which is to say they're all sexy, impossible, powerfully durable souls, quarrelsome and loyal, inventive at navigating the tragedies. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at LA Weekly (Ella Taylor)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for Film.com (Peter Brunette)Film.com (Peter Brunette)
Funny and wise, lively and contemplative, intriguingly postmodern and powerfully moving, all at the same time. It's not to be missed. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Film.com (Peter Brunette)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.56 out of 4 stars for Austin Chronicle (Marjorie Baumgarten)Austin Chronicle (Marjorie Baumgarten)
It's filled with marvelous performances, fabulous wit, and some dizzying images. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Austin Chronicle (Marjorie Baumgarten)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.52 out of 4 stars for Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
The characters have a weight and reality, as if Almodovar has finally taken pity on them--has seen that although their plights may seem ludicrous, they're real enough to hurt. These are people who stand outside conventional life and its rules, and yet ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.52 out of 4 stars for Charlotte Observer (Lawrence Toppman)Charlotte Observer (Lawrence Toppman)
Almodovar still populates his work with characters you'll see nowhere else in movies. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Charlotte Observer (Lawrence Toppman)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.52 out of 4 stars for San Francisco Examiner (Wesley Morris)San Francisco Examiner (Wesley Morris)
Almodovar imbues his Harlequin-novel-meets-Marvel-comic-book melodramas with something more than a wink and a smile, and it's beguiling. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at San Francisco Examiner (Wesley Morris)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.52 out of 4 stars for Boston Globe (Jay Carr)Boston Globe (Jay Carr)
A tender genuflection to the women's energies that keep that spinning world from keeling over. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Boston Globe (Jay Carr)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Entertainment Insiders (Stephen Wong)Entertainment Insiders (Stephen Wong)
“All About My Mother” is an oddly humorous, emotionally devastating, yet passionately triumphant testament to motherhood and feminine fortitude. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Entertainment Insiders (Stephen Wong)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Raging Bull Movie Reviews (--)Raging Bull Movie Reviews (--)
Pedro Almodovar is a director who uses some of the most bizarre situations and sets of characters to make his points. He's particularly drawn to women (moreso than even Robert Altman) - especially ones that must deal with earth shattering experiences - ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Raging Bull Movie Reviews (--)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Images (David Ng)Images (David Ng)
All About My Mother is a frenzied meditation on womanhood. Directed and written by Pedro Almodovar, it throws everything the filmmaker knows about the opposite sex (which is a lot) into a jumbled, comic heap. Mother, daughter, wife, grandmother, sister, ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Images (David Ng)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Edwin Jahiel (Edwin Jahiel)Edwin Jahiel (Edwin Jahiel)
Pedro Almodovar made several shorts in 1974-79 and 13 features since 1980 ("Dark Habits,'' Matador,'' "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,'' "High Heels," etc.) Though in Number 14 Almodovar seems to be gentler and kinder, it is no 180-degree ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Edwin Jahiel (Edwin Jahiel)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for iF Magazine (--)iF Magazine (--)
With their unique blend of irreverent sexual comedy and spirited, high camp drama as well as extravagantly designed uses of garish colors and piquant sounds Almodovar’s films are a genre unto themselves. In fact, European critics have labeled them ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at iF Magazine (--)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for rec.arts.movies.reviews (Frankie Paiva)rec.arts.movies.reviews (Frankie Paiva)
There are only a selected handful of films that manage to be funny, yet be extremely sad at the exact same moment in time. All About My Mother is one of those films. The movie, which is filled with beautiful scenery and gorgeous settings, has this ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at rec.arts.movies.reviews (Frankie Paiva)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for PopMatters (j. serpico)PopMatters (j. serpico)
Almodovar has finally found his groove. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at PopMatters (j. serpico)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for New York Magazine (Peter Rainer)New York Magazine (Peter Rainer)
This is Almod�var's best film in a long while. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at New York Magazine (Peter Rainer)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Film Journal International (Wendy Weinstein)Film Journal International (Wendy Weinstein)
Rich in compassion, humor and complexity, All About My Mother not only brings its central characters from darkness to light, it suggests a brighter future for the bedraggled art of cinema. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Film Journal International (Wendy Weinstein)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Wolf Entertainment Guide (William Wolf)Wolf Entertainment Guide (William Wolf)
A loving film chock full of exuberance and humanity. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Wolf Entertainment Guide (William Wolf)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Matinee Magazine (David Nemetz)Matinee Magazine (David Nemetz)
With its emphasis on uniquely female relationships and conflicts, the film gives us a taste of the freshness for which we look to foreign film in the first place. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Matinee Magazine (David Nemetz)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Steve Murray)Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Steve Murray)
Drag queens, drug addicts, strong women, angry tears, erotic entanglements and knotty, naughty plotting: They're the usual elements in the movies of Spanish writer-director Pedro Almodovar ("Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown"). But in "All About ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Steve Murray)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Man Who Viewed Too Much (Mike D'Angelo)Man Who Viewed Too Much (Mike D'Angelo)
His coziest, warmest, most thoroughly lovable film yet. ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Man Who Viewed Too Much (Mike D'Angelo)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Matinee Magazine (Jason Clark)Matinee Magazine (Jason Clark)
Affecting, wonderfully acted, but oddly quaint drama ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Matinee Magazine (Jason Clark)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for Men on Film (Michael J. Legeros)Men on Film (Michael J. Legeros)
ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER is a dandy drama from Spain, about a single mom (Cecilia Roth) struggling to get a grip on her grief, after her son is killed in a car accident on his 17th birthday. She moves to Bar- celona, to find his long-estranged father, ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at Men on Film (Michael J. Legeros)
All About My Mother (1999) scores a combined 3.50 out of 4 stars for FilmHead.com (Matt Heffernan)FilmHead.com (Matt Heffernan)
he great majority of foreign-language films that are released in America are in French. Two of this year's Golden Globe nominees in that category are from France, and The Red Violin was made by a French-Canadian. The only Spanish-language entertainment ...read the complete All About My Mother movie review at FilmHead.com (Matt Heffernan)
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User Review Summary
Users combined give All About My Mother (1999) a score of 3.5022222222222 out of 4
based on (45) reviews
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Excellent
4
Excellent
(29)
Very Good
3
Very Good
(8)
Good
2
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1
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4.00
Beautiful, colorful film with a wonderful DVD transfer and featurettes (www.amazon.com)
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by Phillip "amazon_p... on September 07, 2009
Rarely do you get the full treatment of foreign film to DVD. I equate this DVD release to the Criterion treatment since there are just tons of things included. This film won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film to Pedro Almodovar. He is a prolific director ...
4.00
Mama Said There'd Be Gays Like This (www.amazon.com)
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by El Lagarto on December 28, 2007
Pedro Almodovar's masterpiece, All About My Mother, avoids wide, well-lit boulevards, choosing instead to shed light on its large, complex subject by trolling life's darkest and most unsettling alleys. ...
4.00
Beautifully weaved Masterpiece (www.amazon.com)
Read More »
by silverway30 on July 26, 2007
...
4.00
All About My Mother (www.amazon.com)
Read More »
by John Farr "The Be... on July 11, 2007
A splendidly absorbing, character-driven drama with lots of twists and turns, ...
4.00
I loved it! (www.amazon.com)
Read More »
by K. jones on May 16, 2006
It is a complicated film about complicated women, trying to capture, I think, the dynamics of women in general. I think it seeks to answer 'what a woman is' by exploring their relationships with each other, their deepest loves, and purpose in life. ...
4.00
Almodovar sees the human condition and paints it carefully in this film. (www.amazon.com)
Read More »
by Jenny J.J.I. "A N... on April 06, 2006
What I like most about Almodovar's films, this one in particular, is the way he will grab you and pull you into a world you would not normally know and then, confront you with people's lives, emotions, and relationships. Cecilia ...
4.00
A very sad and wonderful story (www.amazon.com)
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by C. B Collins Jr. on November 21, 2004
I was genuinely touched by this beautiful film by Almodovar. I would highly recommend it, though it is a tale of loss and grief and the way we recover from grief by moving out of ourselves and back into the world. ...
4.00
Cecilia Roth was unforgetable! (www.amazon.com)
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by Wing Lee "filmfan... on November 19, 2004
I have my list of favorite actresses from various countries. To name a ...
4.00
It's a womens' world-even the men want to be women! (www.amazon.com)
Read More »
by Penguin Egg on July 14, 2004
The death by accident of a mother's much loved son compels her to go to Barcelona and inform the father, who doesn't even know of the boy's existence. Finding the father is not so easy and by going to Barcelona, the mother digs back into a world she had ...
4.00
Incredible (www.amazon.com)
Read More »
by H. R. Trigg "howi... on March 15, 2004
Probably my favourite film of all ...
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Movie Reviews: Comedy
All About My Mother (1999) Reviews
All About My Mother (1999)

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Lowest Price:

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Ratings and rankings are based on number of movie, review scores, awards & other criteria.
Overall Rating:
3.3297
All About My Mother (1999) is ranked overall as out of 4 stars
Avg Critic Score:
3.2912
All About My Mother (1999) is ranked overall as out of 4 stars
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