Perry Kate Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

ThiefHott Too much of everything

Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Allissa .Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

blanche-2 Pedro Almodovar's "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" from 1989 is an earlier film from this quirky director. Almodovar's characters are inevitably off the wall and in bizarre situations. This film and its characters are no exception."Tie Me Up!" was given an X rating (later NC-17) for a couple of scenes and in the United States at least, it was quite controversial.The story concerns a recently-released mental hospital patient, Ricky (Antonio Banderas) who kidnaps an ex-porn star, Marina (Victoria Abril) currently making a low-budget horror film. Though the title suggests S&M, there isn't any. Ricky ties her up when he needs to leave the apartment.An expert in carpentry, locksmithing, and other usable occupations, Ricky had actually been leaving the mental hospital when he felt like it and then returning. During one of those times, he had a one-night stand with Marina. Deeply in love with her, he stalks her on the film set and, when she doesn't speak to him, confronts her in her apartment, declaring his love and his intention of marrying her and fathering her children. Marina, of course, would like to escape him, but Ricky makes that difficult. A former heroin addict, Marina has a toothache and explains that nothing will help except strong medicine from her doctor up the street. So Ricky handcuffs her to him and they walk to the doctor's apartment, where Marina receives an injection and a prescription. Later, when she needs more drugs, Ricky goes to the town square to score some and ends up beaten to a pulp. When he returns, Marina is horrified and begins to have real feelings for him. Meanwhile, her sister Lola (Loles Leon) is worried, believing Marina to have disappeared.There is a very long sex scene in this film that took 9 hours to film, with Almodovar using the last take."Tie Me Up!" launched Banderas in the United States, and this is his last film with Almodovar. He plays Ricky beautifully - as an innocent from a troubled background who will do anything to convince this woman to love him. Abril is a sexy and feisty Marina, and, like Ricky, she is a lost soul trying to find her way. Ricky is an orphan; Abril has a mother, sister, and nephew, but both of them are alone in their worlds.Despite the title and the sex, this is actually a sweet tale with likable characters. Almodovar often has a bizarre way of telling a story and making a point, but the results, with few exceptions, are well worth it.

Danny Blankenship Finally saw one of the films of Pedro Almodovar it this work which was rightfully called "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" As it's a good little take and spin on getting happiness and returning to it after being lonely and put away like the movies central character Ricky. Anyway Antonio Banderas is Ricky a former prisoner and put away mental patient who once had a one night stand with Marina(Victoria Abril)a now sexy porn movie star. As being put away for many years Ricky has developed an unhealthy obsession for Marina as he wants as soon as he gets out to hook back up with her and marry her! So upon release Ricky takes Marina hostage almost like a kidnap victim a damsel in distress, the scenes are funny and dark with Marina being tied up and having her mouth taped with duct tape all while resting in bed! This all leads to a crazy romance and once again some very hot and passionate steam like sex! All of this now leads to escape for both. Overall not everyone's cup of tea still this picture is provocative and a hot twisted take on love and obsession, so if that kind of thing is your poison taste then give this work a watch.

athena24 I have seen 'Tie me up, Tie me down' yesterday night with my wife. We both came up with a feeling that it was quite average, and we both were quite disappointed relatively to the good rating it has, and the majority of positive reviews. In fact when I lay in bed, yesterday night, I was thinking of why didn't I enjoy more? Great cast, fantastic camera work, interesting moments and on occasion it contains hilarious jokes. Yet the movie seemed to drag and bore instead of entertain or touch feelings. This morning I think I have the answer.I didn't really buy what the director tried to sell. Marina didn't look like a heroin junkie or a porn actress. Her place was quite neat and she didn't have any sign of addiction or weakness towards drugs. She didn't look like the one who needed to be saved from herself. So I was told one thing but saw another and subconsciously it didn't fit. All the story was a bit silly and childish. Also, because it felt a bit childish and silly the explicit nudity and sex scenes seemed unnecessary.To sum it up, 'Tie me up, tie me down' is light, has funny moments and without perversions prevailing in Almadovar's films on one hand. But on the other hand, it doesn't involve any strong feelings and it's not funny enough to hold for the whole movie and to be considered a good comedy.

dholliday I'm no prude, not even close. And I have little time for most of the hysterical cries of modern middle-class feminism. But I believe violence-against-women to be one of the worlds' most profound (and common) problems and as such must be handled with care & respect in artistic mediums. There are many dumb movies which feature such violence but are justly ignored by the discerning viewer. Once Were Warriors & Nil By Mouth are two films which deal with this issue in an admirable way.Almodóvar is someone who's raved about by the intellectual film community, and as such there is a responsibility for the film critic to question his values where appropriate. His films glorifies the woman-as-victim image: or rather the woman-as-plaything (see also La piel que habito). Tie Me Up champions this value, glamourises it, and worst of all, romanticises it. It's the male-chauvinist fantasy those mad fems have been warning us about all along, except they probably don't recognise it themselves as it's Almodóvar.If you understand the psychology of women in abusive relationships, it's the feeling of being trapped and of being fooled by the perceived romanticism of it which prevents many from protecting themselves. It's a genuine problem, with lots of potential in the film medium as a dramatic premise. This film does the very opposite of shining a light on this issue, it merely encourages it. Those that claim detractors "miss the point", or "don't understand the irony" are missing the point themselves: there is no irony. It is what it is, and it is morally-irresponsible.Still, the film-buff in me doesn't want to rate it quite a 1/10: the acting from both leads is very good, and the film's technicolour is appealing.Recommended for those who want to decide for themselves.Not recommended if the negative reviews here have convinced you.