StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

Hayleigh Joseph This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

Chantel Contreras It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

postmanwhoalwaysringstwice Pedro Almodovar's 1984 dark comedy "What Have I Done to Deserve this?" disappoints in many respects. The most glaring is when this film is compared with the series of masterpieces he would go on to spawn. This film, though, is far from a masterwork, as it flows through the very chaotic goings-on in a particular apartment building in Madrid without a map. The main focus of the film is on a dysfunctional family, which consists of a the cleaning woman mother with the pill-popping addiction, the negligent taxi driver husband, the drug selling teenage son, the young son with a prurient interest in older men, and the most quirky of them all might be the grandmother with the mineral water stash and the pet lizard. None of this prepares the viewer for the prostitute neighbor or the abusive mother with the daughter that has unknown paranormal powers. There's a lot of other craziness going on, as well, but unfortunately the film flows without very much of it coalescing.

gradyharp Though the films by one of our geniuses of film-making in our times, Pedro Almodóvar, is making films now that are polished to perfection - Volver (2006), La Mala educación (2004), Hable con ella (2002), and Todo sobre mi madre (1999) - his early films such as this one '¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto!!' in retrospect contained all the identifying marks that would establish him as not only one of the bad boys of cinema, but also one of the sensitive cinematic psychologists. And everything he touches gleams.In this 1984 story of a wildly dysfunctional family co-habiting in Madrid, the star is Gloria (Carmen Maura), a No-Doz addicted maid living in a tiny flat with her taxi driver/forger husband who perseverates on an aging German chanteuse for whom he once worked, two sons - one a hustler and the other a drug peddler - and a wacko mother-in-law who treats food like contraband, selling what she chooses to the family members. The turning point in this raucously fragile but funny family is the chance to make money: the father is coerced into forging Hitler's memoirs with a little help from his German chanteuse's influence, Gloria bargains with a dentist for her hustler son's possession, ad infinitum! But leave it to Almodóvar to pull it all off with just the right amount of madness and mayhem, and a jolly dollop of psychology about family interaction and women thrown in for good measure. The cast is a delight (including Almodóvar regulars Cecilia Roth and Verónica Forqué!) and the movie is so fast paced that it feels like a carnival ride - which is very much the way this marvelous director sees his early work. Highly recommended.

Alto Contralto Early Almodovar is something that always keeps me fascinated! He's absolutely free of all his refined technical skills (latest films) and a real "hooligan", provoking, and full of brilliant jokes. "What have I done to deserve this?" is one of my top-Almodovar films, due to magnificent acting of Carmen Maura but not only. Almodovar, not yet burdened by the reputation of "maestro" is extremely free in expression, he does everything what is allowed and "not allowed" to do in cinema. Terrific mixture of Italian neo-realism, (remember the last episode, when Carmen sees off her family and returns home..) marvelous sarcasm, parody on intellectual cinema, and a tart-like melodrama with too much sugar. This is called Almodovar, a genius who is not afraid to seem foolish and therefore never seems foolish. A genius of KITSCH! Haven't seen this film yet? What a lucky one you are! Be prepared for unforgettable impressions. And finally: Highly recommended for those who enjoyed "VOLVER" (these two films have much in common)

towerbridge For me, and I think for most people, there's nothing like a good narrative.And this film has exactly that: nothing like a good narrative.In fact, its a real mess. For example, one character has an idea to make a lot of money, goes on a journey, comes back and what happens? Nada.The later Almodovar films which I have seen - Women On The Verge Of A Mental Breakdown, All About My Mother and Talk To Her - are all much better for placing their observations and ironies within the context of an interesting story. (A similar comment could be made about Mike Leigh's films, namely that those which have a real story e.g. Secrets & Lies, are much superior to those which don't e.g. Naked, All Or Nothing...) I don't want to be completely dismissive of this film, which is energetic and iconoclastic, but rather to counterbalance the view of some others here that this film is a masterpiece. I say it isn't. Its an immature work of a very exceptional director.