AWFUL

Completely agree! I had this in my Netlix queue for over a year, ever since I visited the famous Las Ventas bullring and its museum in Madrid and became something of a casual aficionado. This film fails on all levels. Adrian Brody was cast soley because he bears a physical resemblance to the great Manolete (both have prominent noses). He mumbles and whispers his way through the film, emobodying little of the zest for life that the great toreros are known for. The plot concerns the relationship between Manolete and Lola (Penelope Cruz), to the exclusion of nearly everything else in Manolete's life. While Manolete was famous for being what most Spaniards regard as the finest torero of the modern age, little of his work in the ring is depicted. One can't help but see this movie in some way as anti-bullfight because its so dark and there's no attempt to even show or explain the rituals surrounding the bullfight.

I knew nothing about bullfighting prior to touring Madrid's famous ring and visiting the museum where the stuffed head of the very bull that killed Manolete is mounted on the wall and his blood-stained suit of lights is in a glass case. That was enough to pique my interest and I hoped this film would be entertaining. Unfortunately, the 1942 Tyrone Power/Rita Hayworth film "Blood and Sand" remains the last decent depiction of the colorful world of bullfighting.