40
A maudlin melodrama about prostitutes in Madrid, Princesas is not, alas, the new film by Pedro Almodóvar, but a dilution of his manner by the writer-director Fernando León de Aranoa.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
70
Candela Peña is sensational in the leading role, and the film is big-hearted, poetic, sweet, sad and romantic.
75
New York Daily News by Jack Mathews
The actresses create wonderfully rich characters, and Luis Callejo, as Caye's unknowing boyfriend Manuel, and Antonio Durán, as the sadistic civil servant, fill out the very strong cast.
70
This loosely-structured pic feels authentic, its underdramatized script resolutely nonjudgmental.
58
It's well-acted and strikingly shot, and its depiction of contemporary Spanish squalor is hard to forget, but it never quite reconciles its high-drama situations with its low-key approach. It whispers when it really wants to shout.
88
Film works best as a soberly witty commentary on the workplace and makes an interesting companion piece to "Mondays in the Sun."
50
Starts as a serious examination of the two women's lives, but it descends into a mushy melodrama complete with schmaltzy music and dewy cinematography.