Pedro Almodóvar's half-hour western, "Strange Way of Life," which premiered at Cannes this afternoon, is a pretty minor exercise, a chance for both the director and the actors to try on some cowboy duds for no reason in particular. The film centers on Jake, a sheriff, and Silva (Pascal), a rancher he worked with as a hired gun 25 years ago. They were also lovers, and when they reunite at the start of the film, they are much more open about that past than, say, Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger's characters in "Brokeback Mountaine memory lane of their friendship.

But sex aside, "Strange Way of Life" consists of little more than a basic sketch for a showdown. (Jake plans to track down Silva's son for committing a murder, and Silva wants Jake to leave him be.) Given 70 minutes, Budd Boetticher might have mined some dark ambiguities from the scenario while building toward the eventual three-man confrontation. But the rhythms here are off, and the tension is nonexistent.

A woman watches time passing next to the suitcases of her ex-lover (who is supposed to come pick them up, but never arrives) and a restless dog who doesn’t understand that his master has abandoned him.

The Life and Times of Pedro Almodóvar, a short documentary about the celebrated filmmaker.