55
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80EmpireDamon WiseEmpireDamon WiseAlmodovar 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.
- 80VarietyVarietyAlmodovar's inventive direction, superb lensing by Jose Luis Alcaine, a fine score by Ennio Morricone and top technical credits make pic a pleasure to watch.
- 80Los Angeles TimesPeter RainerLos Angeles TimesPeter RainerThere'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]
- 67Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanTie Me Up! Tie Me Down! is seamlessly crafted yet too self-conscious to be much fun.
- 63Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe movie is too flighty and uncentered, and it allows actual violence to break the spell when false alarms would have sufficed.
- 63TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineStaying with Tie Me Up! demands some patience, but the director's timing never fails him, and he brings things to a close on an upbeat note.
- 60The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyMr. 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.
- 50The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jay ScottThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jay ScottIn terms of psychology, it's an abysmal failure, too real to be symbolic, too symbolic to be realistic. [25 May 1990]
- 50Chicago TribuneChicago TribuneIt's a movie that's too naive to be pornography and too callous to be art. [25 May 1990]
- 10Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumAn offensive premise and a pathetic, almost pleading desire to outrage our sensibilities with it.