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      Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!

      NC-17 Now Playing 1h 45m Mystery & Thriller Comedy List
      69% 32 Reviews Tomatometer 78% 10,000+ Ratings Audience Score Newly released from a mental institution, Ricky (Antonio Banderas) heads straight for a reunion with the love of his life, B-movie actress Marina (Victoria Abril). The trouble is, Marina doesn't remember him -- or the fling they had during her years as a junkie and porn star. Determined to make Marina love him, Ricky barges into her apartment and ties her up. With a captive audience, Ricky is sure it's only a matter of time before his beloved returns his affections. Read More Read Less Now in Theaters Now Playing Buy Tickets

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      Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!

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      Critics Consensus

      Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! undermines its own effectiveness with an excess of camp, but writer-director Pedro Almodóvar and an attractive cast make it all worth watching.

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      Audience Reviews

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      andrea m Almodóvar is walking on mighty thin ice with this movie, especially for today's equality standards. A misfit kidnaps an actress and tries to force her to fall in love with him, with threats and violence and ropes. They find themselves in some crazy situations and eventually, the more the ropes loosen around her wrists, the more the strings fasten around her heart. It's easy to blame the movie for depicting such a crime paying off, while even theft has a punishment in the story. However, the two characters have peculiar backgrounds and their relationship stops feeling abusive very quickly. The senses are very stimulated because the movie is visually lavish and has some extremely hot scenes, as well as a great soundtrack and good score by Morricone. Recommended! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review dave s It's difficult to pinpoint exactly what Pedro Almodovar's Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! is all about. Stockholm Syndrome, perhaps? Maybe the fact that all relationships have a degree of possessiveness? Or maybe just an off-center romantic comedy? Hmmm. After being released from a mental hospital, Ricky (Antonio Banderas) abducts the love of his life, Marina (Victoria Abril), an actress he had a one-night stand with the previous year, with the intent of making her love him. Despite being extremely well-made (great performances, wildly colorful, intriguing but disturbing story), the whole thing feels ugly as Marina is beaten, held against her will, and tied to the bed repeatedly throughout the film. The film may have worked better if the comedy had been removed and been handled like a thriller, or if the violence had been removed and the movie handled in some way like a comedy. As it, though, it all just feels really uncomfortable. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review david l When Almodovar's Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! was first released, it was attacked for its "pornographic" content. Nowadays, it is attacked for being "sexist". I wholeheartedly disagree with both of these assessments. This line of thinking just goes to show that Americans were prudish before and are overly sensitive now. This movie isn't misogynistic, but actually romantic surprisingly enough. It is a crazy mash-up of romantic comedy and thriller genres that really worked due to stellar dialogue, superb direction and particularly impressive thematic resonance. It makes the point that all romantic/sexual relationships are inherently obsessive and possessive, and if that makes you uncomfortable, that is exactly the point. It's a ridiculously underappreciated film. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review слободан е A nice film. Not too serious though. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member A crazy horror romcom. What to make of it? There are moments of genuine horror, genuine tenderness and genuine comedy, but combining them in the central relationship is hugely problematic, and ultimately it just doesn't work. Still worth the watch, even only for the luscious Morricone score. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Audience Member Beautiful shots, radiant colors, great performances and an insane screenplay. Almodovar tells a mad love story in an eccentric way. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Critics Reviews

      View All (32) Critics Reviews
      Keith Phipps The Dissolve Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! comes from a transitional phase in Almodvar's career, one in which he was using bigger budgets to hone his aesthetic, create characters with greater depth, but still indulge a punkish urge to shock. Rated: 3/5 Aug 26, 2014 Full Review Nick Schager Lessons of Darkness An off-kilter - and off-putting - mix of humor, sex, and Stockholm Syndrome obsession. Rated: C+ May 4, 2005 Full Review Austin Chronicle Psychodrama and dark humor flow freely from this setup. Oct 1, 2003 Full Review Terry Francis Southern Voice (Atlanta) Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! is about the nature of romantic obsession, and it's the most subdued Almodóvar film I know. Yet the effrontery is there. It lies in the ironic tenderness with which Almodóvar handles his themes. Rated: 4/4 May 9, 2023 Full Review Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) A superior film with excellent performances. [Full review in Spanish] Nov 18, 2022 Full Review PJ Nabarro Patrick Nabarro This film hasn't aged at all well and really does, in light of #metoo, look like an unfortunate anomaly in the otherwise compassionate and humane filmography of Almodóvar. Rated: 1/5 Jul 1, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis Newly released from a mental institution, Ricky (Antonio Banderas) heads straight for a reunion with the love of his life, B-movie actress Marina (Victoria Abril). The trouble is, Marina doesn't remember him -- or the fling they had during her years as a junkie and porn star. Determined to make Marina love him, Ricky barges into her apartment and ties her up. With a captive audience, Ricky is sure it's only a matter of time before his beloved returns his affections.
      Director
      Pedro Almodóvar
      Producer
      Agustín Almodóvar
      Distributor
      Miramax Films
      Production Co
      El Deseo S.A.
      Rating
      NC-17
      Genre
      Mystery & Thriller, Comedy
      Original Language
      Spanish (Spain)
      Release Date (Theaters)
      May 4, 1990, Original
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Mar 11, 2017
      Box Office (Gross USA)
      $3.3M
      Runtime
      1h 45m
      Sound Mix
      Surround
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