Princesas
IFC First Take | Release Date: August 23, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Film works best as a soberly witty commentary on the workplace and makes an interesting companion piece to "Mondays in the Sun." Read full review
80
Film ThreatMichael Ferraro
Princesas isn't the cliché "Pretty Woman" type romantic-comedy you'd expect – it's actually quite surprising. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyJohn Patterson
Aranoa's bleak yet warmly humanistic Princesas deftly and sympathetically ponders the interlocked destinies of two Madrid prostitutes. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
The actresses create wonderfully rich characters, and Luis Callejo, as Caye's unknowing boyfriend Manuel, and Antonio Durán, as the sadistic civil servant, fill out the very strong cast. Read full review
70
VarietyJonathan Holland
This loosely-structured pic feels authentic, its underdramatized script resolutely nonjudgmental. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Candela Peña is sensational in the leading role, and the film is big-hearted, poetic, sweet, sad and romantic. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Indeed, Aranoa loves these women so completely that his film seems overly drawn out at nearly two hours and likely would have had greater effect had it been half an hour shorter. Even so, Princesas remains largely engaging and rewarding. Read full review
60
Village VoiceMelissa Levine
De Aranoa never condescends to his subjects, and Caye's mixture of aggression and tenderness is appealingly authentic. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
It's well-acted and strikingly shot, and its depiction of contemporary Spanish squalor is hard to forget, but it never quite reconciles its high-drama situations with its low-key approach. It whispers when it really wants to shout. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyGregory Kirschling
The way that Aranoa so clearly venerates his lively women feels Almodóvar-esque, but the movie aims most of all to suggest that hookerdom is hell -- and it's neither realistic nor unsentimental enough to pull that off. Read full review
50
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Starts as a serious examination of the two women's lives, but it descends into a mushy melodrama complete with schmaltzy music and dewy cinematography. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
While the director-screenwriter clearly has a sensitive affinity for his characters, his film lacks narrative momentum and fresh observations. Read full review
40
The New York TimesNathan Lee
A maudlin melodrama about prostitutes in Madrid, Princesas is not, alas, the new film by Pedro Almodóvar, but a dilution of his manner by the writer-director Fernando León de Aranoa. Read full review
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