Live Flesh(Carne trémula)

Empire by

The psychological study that is the author's trademark is reduced to superficial and negative motivation - lust, guilt, revenge, escape.

Salon by Charles Taylor

Live Flesh isn't terrible. It's accomplished and watchable.

Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt

Some of the action is as lurid as the title, but passionate performances and ingenious visuals make this the most absorbing movie by Spanish director Almodvar since his great comedy "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown."

ReelViews by James Berardinelli

Everything (not just the flesh) is vibrant with life.

Chicago Reader by Lisa Alspector

It's all very clever but not really provocative - though a layer of political subtext may make the scenario seem funnier and more meaningful.

Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum

Almodovar is positively mature, adapting a novel by Ruth Rendell so deftly that the plot now also describes the invigorating and sometimes disorienting effects of democracy after long years of repression under the Franco regime.

San Francisco Chronicle by Mick LaSalle

Live Flesh lacks freshness.

Austin Chronicle by Russell Smith

Possibly due to the story's origin as a Ruth Rendell novel, this is the most coherent, viewer-friendly narrative he's ever filmed.