Mouth to Mouth

Pedro Almodóvar's contribution to Spanish cinema hasn't been all positive, as this belabored, misfiring sex farce by Manuel Gómez Pereira attests. Victor (Antonio Banderas wanna-be Javier Bardem) figures if he can't get a job as an actor, he can at least polish his chops and earn income as a phone-sex operator. Unfortunately, he gets a little too involved in his work and is drawn into the world of his clients -- two women who unknown to him seek his services in plots to kill their husbands. A series of progressively loopy mistaken-identity set pieces follow, plus some tepidly kinky sexual encounters, including Victor's misconceived attempted seduction of one of the targeted spouses. It's no surprise that Mouth to Mouth has been gathering dust on the distributor's shelf for a year or so now -- the film is convoluted and improbable, its eroticism more self-consciously hip and leering than sensuous or comic. Screens at the Copley Place Thursday at 5:15, 7:15, and 9:15 p.m. and Friday at 10:15 a.m. and 12:15 and 2:15 p.m.

-- Peter Keough

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