Let's say Pedro Almodóvar is one of your favorite directors. Oh wait, he is? Well, what a coincidence! You’ll have plenty of company in Broken Embraces’ fan club, as the film’s an elaborate, self-indulgent orgy of Almodóvar-age--full of self-reference, slavish homage to fantasy-noir melodrama, and arresting images of Penélope Cruz. On its own, the film is an exceptionally attractive and not unpleasantly meandering tale of sex, malice, and filmmaking--but few pains are taken to make the audience feel welcome in this clearly introspective, doubtlessly sincere work of art. by Marjorie Skinner