Movie Review: “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Scarlett Johansson in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”
Rating: 76
Woody Allen gets a bad rap for being woefully uneven in his filmmaking, but few major directors are in the business of making one movie a year. So if Allen litters his filmography with “Scoop,” “Anything Else,” “Hollywood Ending” and scads of other lackluster productions but, once in a blue moon, gives us something as entrancing and subtle as “Match Point” or his latest, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” all is right with Allen’s world.
Vicky and Cristina (Rebecca Hall and Scarlett Johansson) are just out of school and spending a summer with Vicky’s Aunt Judy (Patricia Clarkson), who owns a villa in Barcelona, Spain. For Vicky, it is her last summer before she marries Doug (Chris Messina), a nice, stable but boring man with provincial values and no sense of adventure. Cristina, in contrast, is romantic adventure incarnate, seeking out exciting situations that are practically doomed to end badly.
Shortly after arriving, they are approached in a restaurant by Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), a handsome artist who promises a weekend of passion if they will fly with him to a remote, picturesque village. Vicky objects, but Cristina is ready to go. The practical Vicky follows, if only to ensure that Cristina is safe. But it is the beginning of a “love square” rather than the typical triangle, in which Cristina and Vicky are drawn into Juan Antonio’s romantic orbit, one that is shared by Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz), his sensuous but deeply unstable ex-wife.
“Vicky Cristina Barcelona” is a simple but entrancing story in which the characters must choose between the wild ride and the easy road. Great performances abound and are expected from such masters as Bardem, Cruz and Clarkson, but Hall is the relatively unknown and surprising element. The British actress takes Vicky from peeved and uptight to romantic surrender with unusual grace, but conveys her fate: She will go with what she knows, even as she sees that Judy’s dissolute marriage to her Uncle Mark (Kevin Drew) will be replayed in her own life.
Johansson also delivers nicely, as Allen offers beautiful close-ups so that we can see the wheels turning inside the impetuous Cristina. Her future seems similarly predestined: She will live an adventurous life but will never find true love. There are no great choices in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” but the richness of Allen’s storytelling makes up for his fatalistic view of relationships.
Woody Allen gets a bad rep for being woefully uneven in his filmmaking, but few major directors are in the business of making one movie a year. So if Allen litters his filmography with “Scoop,” “Anything Else,” “Hollywood Ending” and scads of other lackluster productions but, once in a blue moon, gives us something as entrancing and subtle as “Match Point” or his latest, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” all is right with Allen’s world.
Vicky and Cristina (Rebecca Hall and Scarlett Johansson) are just out of school and spending a summer with Vicky’s Aunt Judy (Patricia Clarkson), who owns a villa in Barcelona, Spain. For Vicky, it is her last summer before she marries Doug (Chris Messina), a nice, stable but boring man with provincial values and no sense of adventure. Cristina, in contrast, is romantic adventure incarnate, seeking out exciting situations that are practically doomed to end badly.
Shortly after arriving, they are approached in a restaurant by Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), a handsome artist who promises a weekend of passion if they will fly with him to a remote, picturesque village. Vicky objects, but Cristina is ready to go. The practical Vicky follows, if only to ensure that Cristina is safe. But it is the beginning of a “love square” rather than the typical triangle, in which Cristina and Vicky are drawn into Juan Antonio’s romantic orbit, one that is shared by Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz), his sensuous but deeply unstable ex-wife.
Javier Bardem and Rebecca Hall in ”Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”
“Vicky Cristina Barcelona” is a simple but entrancing story in which the characters must choose between the wild ride and the easy road. Great performances abound and are expected from such masters as Bardem, Cruz and Clarkson, but Hall is the relatively unknown and surprising element. The British actress takes Vicky from peeved and uptight to romantic surrender with unusual grace, but conveys her fate: She will go with what she knows, even as she sees that Judy’s dissolute marriage to her Uncle Mark (Kevin Drew) will be replayed in her own life.
Johansson also delivers nicely, as Allen offers beautiful close-ups so that we can see the wheels turning inside the impetuous Cristina. Her future seems similarly predestined: She will live an adventurous life but will never find true love. There are no great choices in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” but the richness of Allen’s storytelling makes up for his fatalistic view of relationships.
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great film, saw it the other day, Penelope is superb as is Bardem and Scarlett is just beautiful!