This is not my first Pedro Almodovar film...though I will claim it to be the first in which I was not really rallying for the heroine or any of the lead characters. What have I done to deserve this?? is based around a cleaning woman and her dysfunctional family, whose eccentric habits and dog-eat-dog attitudes to one another, leaves you curious as to what will take place next...but also robs you of any compassion that you wish to place on any of the central characters. In Almodovar's later films, the characters are -likewise- often carrying imperfections and/or secrets that make them one-of-a-kind individuals, but there is usually something integral in the plot or in the way the actor conveys him/herself that endears you and persuades you to root for them (as the underdog(s). My disappointment with this film is that there was no such investment to be made with this family. If you love Almodovar, this film is certainly full of his cryptic views on life, so it is well worth a viewing. The film veers as more a depressing comment than to the black comedy it intended to be.
