It takes quite a few elements to be a world-class film maestro—a crazy mind, a unique style, a muse and a whole lot of issues. Spain’s national treasure Pedro Almodóvar has all these qualities in his pocket, and he doesn’t hold back in “Broken Embraces.” And it turns out... hmm... fine.

Upon losing his sight during an accident, filmmaker Mateo Blanco (Lluís Homar) changes his name to Harry Caine and becomes a screenwriter. He lives alone in Madrid and has only two close friends—his long-time manager, Judit (Blanca Portillo), and her son, Diego (Tamar Novas). One day, a pretentious documentary producer named Ray X (Rubén Ochandiano) visits, and reports that local mogul Ernesto Martel (José Luis Gómez), who is Ray’s father, is dead. This news prompts Harry to review his unsettling past. He tells Diego the story, which begins 14 years earlier in 1992, when he was successful director Mateo Blanco, casting the lead for his latest film “Girls and Suitcases.” An extended flashback begins—here comes Penélope Cruz, playing Lena, Martel’s secretary, a part-time call girl and actress wannabe who becomes Martel’s mistress. Martel is completely obsessed with Lena, but reluctantly agrees to her request to audition for the part in “Girls and Suitcases,” but he insists on being the producer of the film. As expected, Lena and Mateo fall in love, and Martel’s gay son, who has been dispatched by his father as a spy, secretly films everything. When the affair is exposed, Mateo and Lena run away, hiding from everybody including the loyal and caring friend Judit. Martel plots his revenge, which eventually causes a series of tragedies.

It’s hard to count how many stories are told in this one movie—like most of Almodóvar’s works, “Embraces” is a melodrama filled with twisting and complex plots. He blends reality and drama by juxtaposing the raw-looking film footage from Ray X’s camera with the narration that goes back and forth in time, revealing more secrets with every sub-storyline. From the film-within-a-film plot to the writer-director hero—even the names “Harry Caine” and “Mateo Blanco” are pseudonyms that Almodóvar once used—every detail tells you that it’s a extremely personal film, not to mention the obvious reference of the director’s own “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,” to which “Girls and Suitcases” pays a wild tribute. Though the comic and tragic elements are well mixed and carried out in the witty dialogue, and the gorgeous Señorita Cruz gives another stellar performance, the fact that the traces of the director’s past works and personal signature fill “Embraces” to the brim doesn’t make it more intriguing; on the contrary, it lacks originality and surprise. In a word, it’s a well-chiseled Almodóvaristic dramedy that you’ll be more than happy to embrace, but you won’t love it as much as “Talk to Her,” “Bad Education” and “Volver.” Sorry, Pedro, the bar is set pretty high for you.

3/5 Stars by Penny Zhou.

(Spain) Written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. Starring Penélope Cruz, Lluís Homar, José Luis Gómez and Rubén Ochandiano. Category IIB. 127 minutes.