Though the kinky characters and aberrant social behavior common to
the works of Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar are very evident in his
WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN, the film is at heart a
door-slamming farce in the grand tradition. The tiny apartment of
pregnant actress Carmen Maura is the "Grand Central Station" set-piece
for this dizzying tale. Distraught over her recent breakup with her
lover, Carmen prepares to overdose on sleeping pills, which she blends
into a gazpacho so they'll go down easier. She is diverted from her
suicide by her best friend Maria Barranco, a fugitive from justice (her
boyfriend is a Shi'Ite terrorist) who needs a place to stay. Later, when
Carmen's apartment is empty, her ex-lover's grown son (Antonio Banderas) comes to the apartment with his fiance (Rossy de Palma)
in answer to Carmen's "room to let" newspaper ad. The wife
inadvertently ingests Carmen's "pill sauce," and as she blissfully
snoozes, the husband inaugurates an affair with Carmen's friend
Barranco.