Honest up front: this one didn’t fully land for me, and that’s probably on me. Artsier films usually sit in that same spot. My taste in biopics runs toward human triumph, the kind where life knocks someone flat and they claw their way back. Here, most of what Anthony faces he does to himself.
That’s not a flaw. The film knows exactly what it’s doing. It paints the self-destruction plainly, without excuses and without turning it into a lesson. The cast commits all the way down, and Antonio Banderas is the standout. It’s been a while since I’ve seen him in a role I liked this much. He’s genuinely great.
The pacing is slow, and I don’t hold that against it. Given the story, the slowness reads as a choice. You just need to know what you’re walking into. Expect momentum and you’ll be checking the time. Expect a mood piece and it works.
My one real wish: more cooking. This is a tribute to the life, not the craft. I wanted to watch the technique sharpen over the years. The work is the reason he’s worth a movie at all, and it stays mostly offscreen. That’s the gap between liking this and loving it.
So: a good film I respect more than I enjoyed. If you gravitate toward slow, artsy character studies and you’re happy to sit with a man who keeps making the wrong call, this is a solid watch. If you want the version where he wins, look elsewhere.
