Uproarious laughs are largely confined to two characters, but the material takes considerably more risks than the director's work of late, and consequently yields rewards that are altogether richer and more satisfying. In its lush mix of tragedy, comedy and cruel paradox, fed by doses of realism, rural romanticism and an intrinsically Spanish flavor, the film plays like a ravishing old-Hollywood sentimental drama drunk on sangria and dancing to a flamenco beat.