All About My Mother is a perfect soap opera, and the most streamlined and unerring of Almodovar's movies. Cecilia Roth is a knockout and a half as protagonist Manuela; much of the movie's success stems from her attractiveness in every possible social permutation--as mother, friend, pretend sister, pretend prostitute, boss, employee, and (the camera's) love interest. The requisite Almodovar gender-bending is handled likably by Antonia San Juan as the cheerful tranny Agrado, and the dual charisma of Roth and San Juan completely overshadows Hollywood's great Latina hope, Penelope Cruz, whose mild performance as the suffering Sister Rosa is good enough to keep things on track. Manuela's obsession with A Streetcar Named Desire helps structure the story, providing the engine that gets all the characters together, and gives the movie a sense of familiarity that helps explain both its undeniable feelgood vibe and its almost-but-not-quite greatness.