Between Your Legs (1999) User Reviews

If Hitchcock were reanimated and saw Pulp Fiction,

[Dotacion · 7/10 · 14 January 2004]

... the Crying Game, and a few other pieces of current day cinema, he just might come up with such a little gem.

This work manages to lovingly captivate the audience which misses dear old Alfred. From the smartly nuanced opening credits, through the twists and turns of post-reveal story structure, to bringing the whole thing to a close using the ambivalent actions by *both* male leads- not masterful, but deft, and compelling. Nifty stuff.

I can see Hollywood attempting a remake (a la Vanilla Sky) and completely bolloxing it up, too.

Erotic, but not so much as the title and cover art might have you think-the title should actually be translated as "Between the Legs," a sort of comment on what kind of trouble the libido can stir up.

Confusing it wasn't, as a second viewing (well worth it) confirmed. Subtitles are adequate and a capacity for Spanish no necesita.

PS The "distasteful rape scene" mentioned in one comment baffles me and must have been a figment to that reviewer. The character was actually suffering what could be called a post traumatic stress flashback. It rang true to that character, and was necessary as the device to explain what really went on in the previous 01:50 of screen time. Held me right to the end.

Suspenseful thriller with great players , concerning a complex intrigue filled with twists and turns

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 12 July 2015]

Thrilling film with a Spanish-all star-cast including intriguing situations , abstract incidents , female nudity and lots of loving scenes . It deals with Miranda (Victoria Abril) , a forty-years-old woman who is a crew member of a nightly radio programme where she is an anchor girl in the radio talk show . But Miranda results to be also a real sex-junkie . She and her hubby Felix (Carmelo Gomez) , a police Inspector , are parents of a little girl (a very young Dafne Fernandez) . In order to deal with her sex addiction , she signs up for group therapy in a clinic run by Pepe Santander (Adolfo Fernandez) . Also in the therapy group is Javier (Javier Bardem) , a film producer and script-writer and sex-addicted , too . The two misfits hit off and a deep sexual relationship ensues . But things go awry when Javier finds out that his cell phone sex trysts have been secretly taped and being distributed all over city and subsequently blackmailed . Later on , issues get a little more complicated when Javier to be aware his ex-spouse is living with his business colleague (Sergi Lopez) . In addition , while investigating a killing case regarding a man in drag , Felix discovers his unfaithful wife has affair with Javier who is prime suspect of murder .

Enjoyable thriller about sexual obsession and killings ; plenty of emotion , rough sex , profanities , thrills , mayhem and surprise ending . In the beginning it displays a cool animated title sequence full of color and really brilliant .¨Entre Las Piernas¨ or ¨Between legs¨ is Manuel Gomez Pereira's return to top form , with an intelligent and engaging script which uses moving situations to give us a good movie in a high suspense and complexity and that kept me entertained for the almost two hours of duration . Interesting screenplay from Yolanda García Serrano , Juan Luis Iborra , Manuel Gómez Pereira , based on a novel by Joaquín Oristrell , all of them are prestigious Spanish Screen-writers/Filmmakers . The flick develops a lot of steamy affairs among various characters , as there is random sex , oral sex , sex standing up , sex on couch , sex in car , among others . Rightly agreeable and fun-filled , milestone thriller which neatly combines nail-biting set pieces , entertaining situations and amusement . Flawless story with a quartet of sensational protagonists : Javier Bardem , Victoria Abril , Carmelo Gomez and Sergi Lopez . As nice acting by Victoria Abril as a sex-crazed woman obsessed to pursue sexual encounters with men , she parades sexily at her best and more relaxed and enticing than ever . Javier Bardem also gives a terrific performance as a successful scriptwriter and producer who is a sex-phone obsessed , too . Pay attention as one couple of veteran actors very well played give portentous interpretations , as usual . The only flaw I can find is that some of the story lines are left unexplained and some character end up being implausible . Including an unforgettable plethora of secondaries such as : Javier Albalá , María Adánez , Carmen Balagué , Roberto Álvarez , Alberto San Juan , Manuel Manquiña , and Adolfo Fernandez . And brief appearances from Blanca Portillo , Cristina Brondo , Ginés García Millán and Antonio De La Torre , and several others . It was entertaining , great actors and a super soundtrack composed by recently deceased Bernando Bonezzi . Bonezzi composes an excellent score in Hitchcock/Bernard Herrmann style . Furthermore , a colorful and evocative cinematography by Juan Amoros . Rating : Better than average Spanish thriller , you will be glad to saw it . The picture will appeal to Javier Bardem/Victoria Abril fans . The movie won several Prizes and Nominations such as : Berlin International Film Festival 1999 Nominated Golden Berlin Bear Manuel Gómez Pereira ; Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival 1999 : Won Citizen's Choice Award Manuel Gómez Pereira and Turia Awards : Won Turia Award , Best Actor Carmelo Gómez .

The motion picture was well written and directed by Manuel Gomez Pereira . He usually writes his films and occasionally for other directors as "What Makes Women Laugh?" by Joaquin Oristell who in "Love Can Seriously Damage Your Health" is screenwriter and producer ; both of them are ordinary collaborators . Pereira is an expert on comedies as ¨¨Rose sauce¨, Why do they call it love when they mean sex ?¨, ¨Mouth to mouth¨ , "All Men Are the Same" , though he also has made some drama as ¨The hanged man¨ and this ¨Between your legs¨ . His latest projects, however, tanked as "Off Key" starred by an American-all star cast but was a failure both economically and artistically or simply didn't deliver as "Atrévete y Verás" . Nowadays , he directs TV chapters as ¨Gran Reserva¨ and ¨Cheers¨ series .

Victoria Abril

[bob998 · 6/10 · 3 September 2010]

What I liked about this picture: the cool camera-work (airport lounges have rarely been as attractive, and there are evocative scenes in toilets and bedrooms); the music, always urgent and involving even if it owes much to Bernard Herrman; the identity of the transsexual character is well integrated into the story, not an add-on (I thought of Jaye Davidson in The Crying Game).

What I didn't like: the red herrings in the story line, meant to throw us off the scent but only serving to annoy the viewer; the large number of characters that makes following the plot all the harder.

What kept me watching was Victoria Abril, playing the detective's wife with a panache that made me regret she has not made more films we can see in North America.

Contains spoilers, so read at your own risk

[a-laly · 11 January 2008]

I had to watch the film twice to make any sense of the mystery. So many loose ends, and the stories, within stories and so on, only managed to muddy the waters.

So here is how I viewed it. Two people meet on a Monday in a sexual addiction support group. That night they proceed to have a mad sexual encounter in the back of a parked car in a parking lot which after a while the film reveals, has a dead body in the trunk. I got from the film, that Javier has already murdered the victim and stuffed him in the trunk and then goes to the support group to pick up an alibi as well as get lines for his scripts that he can no longer get from the phone sex encounters.

Here is where the film lost me. What was up with the AIDS infected taxi driver? He is supposed to have taken a packet from somebody for a large sum of money. Could it be that the script and the scrap book that the victim had was being taken out to another country, and that's why the police cannot find any script in their search of the house? The point of the police officer who killed his wife, was inserted as a morality play I think, so that in the end, the husband let's the wife go away without harming her. Ipanema is probably the airlines suggesting that the couple ran off to Brazil to start a new life.

The husband / policeman, inadvertently drops the vial containing the pubic hair he finds in his bathroom. That whole vial with the pubic hair thing completely escapes me. How did the hair get into his bathroom and what would that have proved.

A thriller alright, but with a lot of loose ends that kept me guessing and confused.

So many subtitles, so little reward

[=G= · 6/10 · 23 October 2003]

"Between Your Legs" is a provocative title for a less than provocative film which may wear you out with its busy, convoluted tale and anticlimactic conclusion. The film tells of a man and a woman who meet in a "sexaholics anonymous" meeting and become involved in deceit, betrayal, sex, murder, suicide, and a whole bunch of yadayadayada. Although this film features some fine Spanish actors and is a well composed and stylish shoot, the story is just too much ado about too little with insufficient payoff. Forget the title as it has nothing to do with anything is this drama which could have been about the undoing of a man because of sexual addiction or a murder mystery or even cheap sexual sensationalism but instead plays out like so much busy work with little to praise, little to fault, and very little to care about. Not recommended for nonSpanish speakers. (C+)

Confused

[carnivalglass · 7/10 · 8 January 2005]

There is something I could not understand by the end of the movie. As they go into the aircraft the camera goes to a close up of the name of the airplane. It seems that something is going to happen with it but then nothing is shown about it. Are they doomed to die in an accident or what?Then Victoria Abril's husband goes into a shop and drops something to the floor. It seems to be the case in which he carries his contact lenses and somebody puts his foot on it and breaks the case.He finally stays with his daughter and a new dog but what's up with Abril and Bardem? I found the movie a good one but there are some missing links.

Intrigue and Murder.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 26 August 2012]

Never mind the salacious title. There's not much simulated sex and no nudity at all. It's not a soft-core thriller. What it is, is nicely executed and confusing.

It owes something to Hitchcock, from the credits, which resemble those of Saul Bass, to the lush orchestral score which borrows heavily from Bernard Herrmann, chiefly "Vertigo" and "Taxi Driver." I was half hoping for a lot of the disgusting gratuitous nudity that everyone complains about an it opens promisingly enough -- a group therapy meeting of "sex addicts" in which everyone has a different story. Among the group's member are Javier Bardem and Victoria Avril. Avril's story is that, as a young girl, she helped a butcher tie the knot in his tie just before his wedding. He became excited and balled her three times in the back of the butcher shop. "Everything smelled of meat." Since then she's had one affair after another, even though she's married to a police officer, Carmelo Gomez. I forget what Bardem's story was but it couldn't have been as interesting.

Then all sorts of tsuris follows. I frankly was lost. Bardem has a problem with some kind of illegal tapes -- or something. The few clips we see don't look very illegal. One shows an ordinary boxing match. A dead body turns up in the trunk of an unused car, in the front seat of which Bardem and Avril have been spontaneously coupling, so we're told. (We don't see anything.) Avril's husband, the cop, is trying to track down the murderer and, after discovering his wife's affair with Bardem, does all he can to pin it on Bardem. It leads to some tense moments.

I don't think I'll describe the resolution. At least I understood it, I think. I still don't know exactly how or why it reaches the point it does, but I'm sure of one thing -- it does reach that point.

Bardem is pretty good. I'd only seen him as the cold-blooded hit man in "No Country For Old Men." In that essay, he spoke slowly with a slight gargle in his voice, his face expressionless, his hair combed slantwise over his forehead, his big dark eyes dominating his features. Here, he's a rather ordinary screenplay writer who speaks at a normal tempo and looks like anybody else. I was impressed by the difference in his approach to the two contrasting roles. It's what's meant by "range" in acting.

Victoria Avril is now middle aged, no longer the young lady of "Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down", but she's still beautifully and unwittingly sexy. She wears a semi-startled expression throughout, as if she were a frightened bird in a cage. It suits the role.

There are still several points, some of them important, that I'm unclear on, but I've taken steps to correct this by enrolling in a therapy group that promises to promote viewer comprehension.

A Contradiction

[Bishonen · 4/10 · 30 October 1999]

A difficult film to assess.

The cinematography is stunning---one of the most beautifully shot and constructed urban thrillers I've seen from any country. Visually it surpasses most American productions in its lushness and moments of brutality. In terms of atmosphere, it's unforgettable; the character in the rain, in the shadows of alleyways, the iridescent shimmering interiors (shot in some beautifully seedy Spanish settings).

A wonderful star-turn by Victoria Abril also carries the film. Her character, who cruises for sex in public places, is in turns pathetic and fascinating and drives the film forward even when the plotlines lag.

Without blowing the revelation of the film, this also proves to be one of the most virulently AIDS- and homo-phobic stories committed to film. The film's positing of a Gay character as a crux of the mystery and the final moments of the story leans on a highly questionable exploitation of audience prejudices and anxieties. Taken at face value, it's an entertaining, well-paced thriller. Behind the surfaces, though, it's reactionary trash which preys on hatred and misunderstanding of sexual minorities.

The audience I saw this film with applauded at the end, for the bravura filmmaking and good acting. I left with a bad taste in my mouth and ashamed that I had enjoyed the majority of the film until the last few minutes. Depending on where you're coming from and how far you're willing to scrutinize the context of this film, it will seem like a good, well-made movie or typically hetero-centric bashing of gay people, so common in movies from any country. Or perhaps both?

A hommage to Hitchcock

[meitschi · 8/10 · 1 October 2001]

When I read the title and a short description in a Budapest program magazine, I prepared for a darkly erotic love story. "Entre las piernas" did have such elements, of course, but still turned out to be something completely different.

As soon as the (beautifully designed) titles started, it became evident for me that this film was going to be a hommage to Hitchcock an his films. The same everyday beginning that entails lots of unexpected turns; the same play with identity and culpability, the same insecure atmosphere where things happen to the characters that destroy their everyday world - even the music was Bernard Herrmann-style! Of course, directing and camerawork were not at all on the same level than in Hitchcock's films, but the perfect screenplay was indeed. The actors were also great and seemed to like their roles. I didn't like Javier Bardem in "Before Night Falls" but here he was really cute... :)

I would absolutely recommend this film to everyone who likes clever psychological thrillers and also to all people who love Hitchcock's films and are familiar with his work.

SPOTTING ADAM

[Pittwater · 6/10 · 2 March 2003]

Entre las piernas is not a bad attempt at creating a Hitchcock like mystery. The plus for this movie is definitely the charm of Victoria Abril. Not a bad sort for a 40 year old, aye?

Abril plays Miranda who signs up for therapy in a Sex Addict Anonymous meeting. Another in therapy is a scriptwriter called Javier whose phone sex confessions were secretly taped and distributed to the depraved and perverted in Madrid. You may ask what would happen if you place sex-addicts in the same room. The result is a rapid sexual encounter for Miranda and Javier. Miranda's husband/cop, Felix eventually catches onto the illicit affair.

The disturbing part is the "distasteful" rape scene towards the end. What would you do if you were Javier? I call it self-defence. The main question is, were you not Spotting Adam from the very beginning???

THE CLUE: Whenever you sense something is not quite right, always look for the Adam's Apple. Do you? I do!

You can simply avoid to see this movie, move to something better!

[g_venturi · 3/10 · 5 November 2004]

"Hommage to Hitchcock"? Are you sure people? Hitchcock has been one of the greatest film directors ever, and his movies are still evocative and compelling today. This is something that we cannot say about "Entre las piernas", for mainly two reasons:

1)It completely lacks in imagination. The plot is very predictable at each step, except the last scenes, when we discover the identity of the killer. Overall, we are never thrilled by the story.

2)The main characters are flat, not to speak about the secondary ones... The story starts in the psychotherapy room, but it fails in really explaining the "why" of their illness, which could have been very interesting. The secondary characters are simply ridiculous.

Overall, I was very bored by the movie even if the content was meant to be pruriginous. The only notable thing is the skill of V. Abril and C.Gomez as well. You can simply avoid to see this movie, move to something better!

Despite valid criticism, the movie is one of the best in its genre

[hidalgo-4 · 9/10 · 9 July 2005]

Following in dialogue with the comments of the previous reviewer I will start saying that most films convey the prejudices of the society where they come from. As Bishonen has already mentioned, this film is quite homo-phobic, but you don't notice this until the end. Actually, it is difficult to put all the strings together until the end, and still, they don't all fit nicely. The tension of the drama is broken several times because the film appears to have been heavily edited thus missing a few important components.

Yet, probably because of the editing too the film presents just the best acted scenes. They are indeed very well done, with a play of characters that is a pleasure to watch. The movie is sexy without taking too much time showing physical bodies engaged in sex (the first scene is the longest one). The essence of the movie's sexuality is captured in the powerful sexual urges that the protagonists have trapped within themselves, making them their slaves, and the main appeal of the movie.

The thriller side of the movie was only good when it was linked with the issue of sexuality. Otherwise it was ordinary, probably because the scrip tried too hard to always hide the true identity of the killer, thus, giving little space for the observer to get deeply caught in the web of tensions.

An interesting thing about the movie's narrative is that a story-maker (I say maker because in addition to a story-writer, he also "made" stories) resulted smarter and more cunning than businessmen, sharp detectives and even the "evil" people who were trying to hurt him. He even appears as too "innocent" throughout the film. In most other films when someone is having too much fun and trying to get away with it, at the end such person pays with interests. In this film, however, the conclusion plays out differently.

I also felt betrayed at the end when I noticed the strong homophobic sentiment of the movie. It just shows how the Spanish society continues being so conservative. Like the prejudices behind this movie, the first negative reactions in Spain to the movie "Bad Education," where the main actors behave homosexually and bisexually, just serves to prove that a large number of people in Spain are still trapped by the sexual mores of the Catholic Church.

But besides the issue of homosexuality, the smoking like chimneys, and the fact that the thriller could have been made better, the movie is one of the best in its genre. I specially liked Victoria Abril's performance. In Abril, the movie took a thirty-something women and made her the sexual object and the central sexual figure of the narrative. This contrasts with Hollywood's productions in which most females playing such roles are teenagers, twenty-something, or extremely glamorous. I think this movie illustrates by contrast how the U.S. society is so obsessed with youth, to the detriment of older women in particular.

An overlong draggy film lacking excitement

[esh04676 · 5/10 · 16 September 2004]

The point that sex can become a dangerous addiction is not made in a very convincing manner in this film. After starting with a session of a class for curing sexual addiction, the movie focuses on a variety of problems faced by most of the characters, none of whom are very interesting people. At two hours or more the film drags along. Attempts at injecting suspense are pitifully weak. The viewer does think of what Hitchcock would have done with this material, beginning with a clean straight story line, but in the end all one can think is "I saw Hitchcock suspense films and this has no Hitchcock suspense, only clumsy attempts at imitation." A final question: when the leading lady boards the plane holding her little dog is that a suggestion that she will continue taking the dog out when she seeks another man? That everything will continue in much the same way?

Labyrinth, Chinese Box, Imbroglio, Maze---Dud!

[fordraff · 12 January 2006]

The plot of this film is ultimately undecipherable. You'll have more luck figuring out "Finnegan's Wake." Were I to see this film several more times, I still would not be able to determine what is reality, what is fantasy, what is taking place in real time, what is taking place in imaginative time. There are flashbacks within flashbacks until chaos reigns. Entire plot lines, such as that of Jareño, are unrelated to others. The opening sequence will certainly draw you into the film, but it has virtually nothing to do with the main characters in the film. Both Javier and Felix could be described as the film's protagonist; whose story is this? I can't imagine that many people would stay with the film more than twenty minutes, thirty minutes at the most. I stayed with the film, naively thinking that in the denouement all of the pieces of plot would come clear. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

The revelation made in the climax about the character Jacinto is something most viewers will probably be able to predict from the moment Jacinto first comes unto the screen. (I agree with another commentator here; watch the Adam's apple.) This character transformation (shall I say?) has been used in a number of films. And the plot device of having someone get away with murder has become ordinary. Just as in Woody Allen's new film, "Match Point," a coincidence here allows the real killer to go uncharged with the crime.

The credits are a direct steal from Saul Bass's credits from "Vertigo," and the music is imitative of Bernard Herrmann's score for the same film, which led me to expect something far more than this film delivers.

Save yourself a rental fee and a headache as well.

weird... mind fu#$ movie. ... but stupid ending..

[afterdarkpak · 5/10 · 9 July 2020]

I watched this movie under "cheating wife " category in some of the websites. i didnt undertsnad the story much because its complicated story for me .

the only thing i understand that a married woman with a child n husband having an affair.....

then ... in the end she LEFT the husband n daughter for sex ? thats really stupid idea ever

Victoria Abril, as usual, takes the entire picture.

[490318 · 8/10 · 14 October 1999]

This film is very interesting for those who likes sexi-thrillers, Miss Abril reinforces herself as a super spanish star, and as usual, she fills the screen with a strong personality that communicates with the audience not only with a superb performance but with her eyes, voice, and as the film title calls, with her legs.

It could be the best use for 4 bucks! (Standard ticket price in México)

A Movie with a Slant

[daddison1909 · 9/10 · 24 February 2006]

Where to begin! I admit that I had to watch this movie several time in order catch all of its details and subtle nuances. The title goes to the motivation of the characters. Something that I heard in college, that "biology is fate," also refers to the title. Something the taxi taxi driver says at the beginning to Javier, implies as much. The movies' characters, major and minor, all have one crisis or another to confront. How they handle their particular situation, highlights their character. Some run from them, others confront them. Each has his or her own style. So much for the plot. The photography was great, the acting was very good, the dialogue was exceptional. The ending, and the scenes leading up to it, were just fine. The writers clearly had a point of view, and say it loud and clear. This movie is highly entertaining, and thought-provocative. I would not be surprised if Hollywood re-made this movie.

Victoria Abril= Sexy + Powerful (Acting)

[DakKi · 10/10 · 19 October 1999]

Oh yes. She has proved us once again that she is a godess. Not only can she act, but she (or/and her people) have the amazing ability to choose the films she acts in. This erotic thriller is one of a kind, a good smelling poutporri (or however you spell it) of the most popular spanish directors of the 90´s: Almodobar (All About My Mother, Live Flesh), Amenabar (Thesis, Open Your Eyes), etc.. etc.. etc... Go see it, if you like strong movies with great plot twists and good acting. Definately a winner. If I were a jury in a festival, it would´ve taken ALL the prizes.

Victoria Abril! I am in love with you!

[onelar · 9/10 · 4 August 2001]

My advantage, I do not speak very much Spanish, and more than 80% of the dialogue went over my head... The acting of Abril, however, was so intense and comprehensive, the way her lips quivered, the "realness" of her unexpected "jerkiness" from time to time, and the scene in the "club" followed by the double entendre'd pretensiousness with her husband. It kept me interested for almost two hours. I may not have got it right, but there were multiple plot layers that "dovetailed" without the insulting forecasting which is generally evident in American movies. And, like I hinted, maybe my advantage was that I did a kind of "speed listen" instead of listening to every word. And, the male lead did an equally great job.

Loved it tremendously. Hope it never gets English subtitles. I like what my imagination filled in for me!

Everybody's got a secret

[edward_tan · 8/10 · 6 April 2000]

You never know what you're going to expect when you watch this quirky Spanish flick. There are some obvious moments that are (Pedro) Almodavar and some are (Julio) Medem, which should come as no surprise as the actors in this show have worked with the above directors. Sex, suspense, comedy, drama - it's all here rolled into one. An engaging film that leaves you smiling after you come out of the cinema.

Full of sensuality

[Robinson_Almanzar · 25 September 2000]

The story of this movie, which tries hard to avoid following concepts of other movies related to infidelity in today's modern society, really falls in providing a clear and definitive message to the audience.

The story seems interesting just from the beginning when a group of people -who take assistance in a rehabilitation center for addicted to sex- express their personal feelings about their lives and their situations, just as a psychological and deep profile of every individual. This is interesting since Manuel Pereira (Director) starts to have control of all these situations.

But this is not going so far just when alternative plots "with some psychological twists" began to surface the main story and overcome it. So the story that began from exploring the world of this addicted people turns out to become a confused film with unnecessary plots that makes the movie with no clear interpretations at the end of it.

Very Bad

[dfpm · 25 July 2004]

If this was intended as a tribute to the great Alfred Hitchcock, this is simply disgusting: in fact, there are many obvious quotations (the opening credits, the first scene with the little girl screaming like in Marnie, the other one who believes to be already dead, remembering us Madeleine in "Vertigo", the music, etc, etc). Nonetheless, where Hitch's films are deep and fascinating, this one is just a sample of the lowest-grade cinema. It is outrageous towards Hitchcock, to say the least, showing that the director of the film either is not capable of understanding anything about the greatness of A. Hitchcock, either is simply a bad director. 0 / 10