Bardem acted well, despite a shallow characterization, but Skarsgård was miscast as a background character. Goya surfaces in the second half only insofar as the Portman characters of Inés and her daughter physically resemble characters from his etchings. If only her portrayals were as interesting.
Forman survived Nazi and Czech communist rule and that probably played a part in the creation of the movie. He is most famous for his riveting and thought-provoking depictions of real-life geniuses and rebels - those who exist on society's fringes (McMurphy, Mozart, Flynt, Kauffman). Here, though the production is slick, he provides us with only a very brief glimpse of the inherent conflict and drama associated with such personalities. The script, co-written by Forman and Buñuel regular Jean-Claude Carrière, might work as a Dadaist feature, but fails as a historical drama, and is even more disappointing as a biopic.
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