KIKA

Exploitation and exhibitionism best describe the unrated film KIKA by Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, a seemingly no-talent director who has received undeserved critical acclaim. Mr. Almodovar seems to desperately grasp at the straws of shock value apparently under the assumption that he has nothing else going for himself. Each of his characters have their own flavor of perversion, but with a storyline and character development no firmer than Jello.

With little more to say, the story development, filming and theatrical presentation are simply insulting to the average movie viewer, whether in Madrid or the U.S.A. The filmmakers have rejected their NC-17 rating, perhaps with hopes that KIKA could slip into family video stores unnoticed, but please do not let this innocent-sounding title fool you; an “X” by any other name would still be as rotten.