Penelope Cruz, Yohana Cobo, Carmen Maura

Set in Spain, this is a generational story of three women: a good mother who is desperately in love with a man who is far from being a saint; a young mother carrying a hard life upon her shoulders; an...( read more  read more... )d an illegal hairdresser whose shop is the meeting point for all the neighborhood gossips.

Flixster Users

88% liked it

62,159 ratings

Critics

91% liked it

158 critics

R, 1 hr. 51 min.

Directed by: Pedro Almodóvar

Release Date: November 3, 2006

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DVD Release Date: April 3, 2007

Stats: 6,511 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (6,511)


  • October 2, 2009
    Pedro Almodóvar is one of the only directors in the world who has perfected the balance of comedy and tragedy and he proves it in Volver. The cast is excellent and it?s filmed beautifully, it?s brilliant, quite typical of Almodovar!
  • September 2, 2009
    Although I'm still hoping to see another Almodóvar as amazing as Talk to Her, this is well worth watching. I tell you true, up until I saw this, I did not know that Penelope Cruz could act. She can, and she is amazing in this. Not to mention that she has quite a good si...( read more)nging voice -- a bonus! I'm ready for anything, these days, and when that cultural flair for magical realism can come into play at any moment, I'm absolutely ready for ghosts to walk among us, talk to us, live with us, eat with us, and sleep with us. Without spoiling anything, I hope, I want to tell you I was ready to believe, you know? How about you? Amazing how that turned around.

    Almodóvar loves women. If you've not figured that out, you'll realize it here. Men? . . .

    A beautiful story about family and inter-generational communication and understanding. You know, if the daughter had not reminded Raimunda of the problem she'd had with her "father," about an hour into the movie, I would have forgotten about him and where he was, uh, hiding. Women reign supreme here.

  • June 15, 2009
    Volver is at first a very powerful and involving film. It certainly has a lot to grab the attention. Murder, incest and people back from the dead are just some of the intriguing ingredients. It continues to amaze and enchant, carried by a wide range of memorable performances. Tow...( read more)ards the end there are moments when it forgets to move the story along and just stands uncomfortably still. Almodovar juggles the tones of the piece very well. He perfectly captures the funny, frightening, loving and hateful moments. There's a lot going on, so much so that characters receive phone calls concerning bad news, as they are dealing with other bad news/situations. It keeps the film alive, even if it does feel a little forced.
  • May 17, 2009
    I find impossible to describe the way this movie moved me.

    Penelope is the reason God created women, and Almodovar is an uncanny force of nature. Cast, music, words, shots, tears, silence, wind, clothes, color, high heels: everything works like the most beautiful clock in the w...( read more)orld, flawless and precise.
  • March 18, 2009
    Another wonderful motherly attentive film by Almodovar. Though the story takes several tangents and things just continue to happen, it's an enjoyable experience that is very rewarding by the closing credits.

    Look for many aspects of this film to be nominated come Oscar night, b...( read more)ut because it's foreign might have some difficulty with wins. As always, Cruz rules the day.

    MY FULL REVIEW IS HERE
  • November 9, 2009
    Volver (2006)

    I've been hearing a lot about the Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar and was anxious to see Volver which occasionally comes on TV. Yeah, it's a chick flick, but it also deals with the dead, spirits, and family. The Movie starts out with a cemetery full of widows sc...( read more)rubbing down grave stones of their husbands.

    Raimunda (Penélope Cruz), her Daughter, Paula (Yohana Cobo) and her Sister, Sole (Lola Dueńas) are back from Madrid to their small hometown, scrubbing everything down. While in town, they also stop in to see their elder Aunt who is blind, senile, and not even able to get around very well, yet she has baked a bunch of cookies and wrapped everything up in individual marked containers for each girl. What is also strange is that the upstairs has an exercise bicycle, and smells just like their long dead Mother.

    Raimunda is in something of a dead marriage at home. One evening she finds that her daughter has killed her husband for attempting to rape her. Raimunda quickly hides the body at a friend's restaurant freezer chest. Later, the Aunt dies and Sole attends the wake and is very surprised to find (the ghost?) of her Mother, Irene (Carmen Maura) hiding in her trunk. She has come to live with her. The film is part comedy, part melodrama.

    As with most chick flicks, there's lots of talking but not much communicating. Any men in this film are the enemy; horn dogs just wanting to hump their legs. There is also a family mystery over Raimunda's Father and the neighbor woman back home.

    It's a very good movie; well made and put together and well worth a look.
  • November 7, 2009
    To say Volver is good is like saying Americans KIND OF like pizza.

    This Guy Over Here picks this as one of the Best Films of the 2000s
  • November 4, 2009
    penelope y almodovar lo mejor del cine espanol
  • October 16, 2009
    i don't know how many times i passed this film just because i haven't seen any almodovar film and have thought this is just another spanish drama, but thank god for the gorgeousness of penelope cruz, it's enough to forced and convince me to finally watch this.,
    and i am very grat...( read more)eful because this film really hooked me, yeah the genuine 'hook' that only belong to great movies.,
    this is a superb drama, very powerful, has amazing depth, good performances especially by penelope (god, what a fantastic women she is), very good plot, and sometimes funny, wow i'm amazed by almodovar, this is the best film i've seen recently, and without the slightest doubt one of the best film in 2006..
  • October 14, 2009
    This movie doesn't have a lot of nice things to say about men who in this movie end up deserving to die for how they treat women... but the focus of the story is about how the women pull themselves together to make things better despite their situation and that in the end, how im...( read more)portant family is.

Critic Reviews


December 22, 2006
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle

The Return rattles its chains for a spell, but it doesn't linger -- it quickly leaves. full review

December 21, 2006
Colin Covert, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

The Cannes Film Festival jury threw up its hands and gave this year's Best Actress Award to all six of the film's stars. They're so fine that refusing to choose between them was the only sensible choice. full review

December 13, 2006
Marcy Dermansky, About.com

Volver has it all: comedy, drama, Penelope Cruz, death and unexpected life, perfectly strung together with a little old fashioned intrigue. full review

November 22, 2006
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

What a distinctive filmmaker Almodovar has become. full review

November 3, 2006
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

You do not want to miss this one. full review

November 2, 2006
A.O. Scott, The New York Times

Pedro Almodóvar has made yet another picture that moves beyond camp into a realm of wise, luxuriant humanism.

October 30, 2006
David Edelstein, New York Magazine

What a run this millennium for Pedro Almodóvar: one strange and fabulous feature after the next, each in a different style, each so deftly controlled that you hardly register its subversiveness until ... full review

October 30, 2006
Anthony Lane, The New Yorker

...The film, against my wishes, left me unmoved. full review

October 7, 2006
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com

This is a movie about mothers and children that dispatches with the usual goopy sentiment. Volver reassures us that you can go home again -- if only in the movies. full review

View more Volver reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • brauliodiaz93
    June 19, 2008
    she is better when she acts in spanish....si ese es su lenguaje natal helloooo!!!! jejeje
  • gabrielhortencio
    June 15, 2007
    Filme FANTÁSTICO, excelente, mistura suspense, comédia e drama. Mas, é um senhor dramalhăo "mexicano", mesmo sendo um filme espanhol. Estupendo! Penélope Cruz está maravilhosa. ADOREI ;D
  • qbn22
    April 9, 2007
    Fascinante!!!!!!! Esperaba que ganaras un Oscar, tu actuacion fue la mejor que has tenido en toda tu carrera. I work in Hollywood, but follow your carreer since the beginning. You are beautiful and talented. Best Wishes!
  • MisSHollYW00D
    March 16, 2007
    Q ASCO ME DA PENELOPE CRUZZZ!!!Y VOLVERR....
  • kevinjoy98
    November 4, 2006
    this movie is directed by Pedro Almodovar why didnt they write his name on director section?????
  • murphycherry
    September 30, 2006
    i thourght this was absolutly brillaint deffently watch this ok?

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Volver Trivia


  • Penelope Cruz won an Oscar for her role in Volver ?  Answer »
  • I am the lead actor in 'Volver'   Answer »
  • I was nominated last year for an Oscar in Volver. Had romances with two leading men:(Matthew McConaughey) in Sahara and Tom Cruise (Vanilla Sky). I am___  Answer »
  • Which actor is in all of the below? Sahara Volver Gothika Vanilla Sky Bandidas  Answer »

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