Despite its gorgeous collection of images and a cast whose performances are tremendous across the board, Volver suffers from a reckless and haphazard plot. Almodóvar has a tendency to treat his plot points as if he were a Roman aristocrat in a vomitorium, throwing stuff at us that makes little or no sense within the emotional context of the film, and frequently fails to plane up with our previous understanding of the characters. This is particularly true with the inciting incident, and with the revelation at the movie's conclusion; moments that give birth to the unassailable "what?", "why?", and "why didn't . . .?" and leave us fending for ourselves in our attempts to put details in their proper places. While the plot always succeeds in engaging the viewer, it compromises our ability to treat the film with the seriousness it would otherwise deserve.
