Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!(¡Átame!)

Chicago Tribune by

It's a movie that's too naive to be pornography and too callous to be art. [25 May 1990]

Empire by Damon Wise

Almodovar consolidated his status as a challenging and bold filmmaker by forcing Americans to drop their zany preconceptions of him and see his world through his eyes.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Jay Scott

In terms of psychology, it's an abysmal failure, too real to be symbolic, too symbolic to be realistic. [25 May 1990]

Chicago Reader by Jonathan Rosenbaum

An offensive premise and a pathetic, almost pleading desire to outrage our sensibilities with it.

Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! is seamlessly crafted yet too self-conscious to be much fun.

Los Angeles Times by Peter Rainer

There's a hushed, rapturous quality to its best parts, though, and the emotional interplay between Ricky and Marina has a scary immediacy that the movies rarely achieve. Almodovar dares a lot in this film. [4 May 1990]

Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert

The movie is too flighty and uncentered, and it allows actual violence to break the spell when false alarms would have sufficed.

The New York Times by Vincent Canby

Mr. Almodovar's comic invention runs out too soon, leaving the audience to giggle weakly in anticipation of the big laughs and disorienting shocks that never arrive.