I guess that most people will know what they are letting themselves into. And I say this, because this movie was shown at the Berlin Film Festival this year (2010) as retrospective. I didn't know anything about the story and was quite surprised by the beginning of the movie. And I can tell you, that I'm sure that quite a few people who watch mainstream movies would have walked out of this movie, if they were in this ... but as I said, many most have known.
Apart from a few walk-outs, most people stayed (maybe the even knew the movie, because they had seen it before?). And it changes pace after that "offensive" beginning (thankfully) and becomes more of a personal story. One with many weird and quirky characters. All portrayed very nicely by the actors. And while quite a few scenes have visual or dialog highlights, the movie itself seems to have dated.
It's not only the predictability of the plot, but while the weird mannerisms of the characters are nice, they also tend to obnoxious at times too. As one of the first movies Almodovar made, this is pretty solid, but it won't be everyones taste (not that his newer movies are ... just saying)
Apart from a few walk-outs, most people stayed (maybe the even knew the movie, because they had seen it before?). And it changes pace after that "offensive" beginning (thankfully) and becomes more of a personal story. One with many weird and quirky characters. All portrayed very nicely by the actors. And while quite a few scenes have visual or dialog highlights, the movie itself seems to have dated.
It's not only the predictability of the plot, but while the weird mannerisms of the characters are nice, they also tend to obnoxious at times too. As one of the first movies Almodovar made, this is pretty solid, but it won't be everyones taste (not that his newer movies are ... just saying)