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It must be true that getting out of town can do a fellow a lot of good, because Vicky Cristina Barcelona is the best movie Woody Allen has made in years. Okay, you're right, 2006's Match Point already claimed that honor and, as Allen's first film made in England, established the virtues of getting away from overfamiliar territory (namely Manhattan). But the Woodman's first film made in Spain matches the ice-cold Match Point for crisp authority, and yields a good deal more sheer pleasure besides. Rebecca Hall (Vicky) and Scarlett Johansson (Cristina) play two young Americans, best friends, spending a summer in Catalonia. Vicky is going for a master's in "Catalan identity" (though her Spanish is shaky); Cristina is going along for, oh, just about anything. That soon includes celebrated abstract artist Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), who's anything but abstract in his forthright proposition that the two join him in his private plane, his travels, and his bed. That he has an insane ex-wife, Maria Elena (Penélope Cruz), who may or may not have tried to kill him is not really an issue until the wife reappears and ... well, consider the possibilities.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona isn't exactly a comedy, at least not in the manner of Allen's "early, funny ones," but it's informed by a rueful wit that finds its fullest expression in reflective voiceover commentary. Spoken by Christopher Evan Welch, but surely on behalf of the 73-year-old auteur, this element of the film is neither (as some have charged) patronizing nor uncinematic; rather, it's integral to the movie's participation in a venerable European literary tradition, the sentimental education. Instead of Bergman or Fellini, this time Allen is invoking the François Truffaut of Jules and Jim and Eric Rohmer in his many meditations on the game of love. The entire cast is terrific (both Hall and Johansson get to play "the Woody part" at different points), with Bardem and Cruz especially delightful as exemplars of Old Worldliness. Cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe honors every drop of Catalonian sunlight and glint of Gaudí architecture. --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews

Allen Finds His Romantic and Artistic Muse in Spain with a Sharp, Eclectic Cast
From a thematic standpoint, Woody Allen's latest film offers nothing we haven't already seen in his earlier work like Manhattan and Hannah and Her Sisters. Like those classics and several lesser efforts, this 2008 romantic dramedy is a distilled examination of why men and women long for romance and how we fluidly fall in and out of love as a result, often with dire consequences and not without personal humiliation. What makes this entry particularly welcome is the full-blooded infusion of Spanish art and architecture that brings an emotional ripeness to the story. It also helps that Allen has gathered a more eclectic cast than usual to inhabit the richly developed characters. This is easily the most enjoyable film he has made since going abroad and probably his funniest since at least 2000's Small Time Crooks.

The plot focuses on two American college friends, polar opposites on the subject of love, as they vacation in Barcelona for the summer. As the conservative one who values stability and devotion, Vicky is there to study "Catalan Identity" as she waits to return to the states to marry Doug, an ambitious young man who maps out their future with a stifling lack of spontaneity. Failed filmmaker Cristina, on the other hand, is a romantic adventurer who craves unbridled passion with no limits. Their differing perspectives on love clash immediately when they both catch the eye of renowned abstract painter Juan Antonio. He makes a supremely self-confident proposition to Vicky and Cristina to join him on a romantic weekend trip to Oviedo, a picturesque town near the northern coast. Naturally, Vicky is appalled and makes no bones in telling him so, but Cristina is excited by the idea of being seduced by him. They agree to go with him and face unexpected consequences. Things get even more complicated when Juan Antonio's tempestuous ex-wife Maria Elena shows up and forces him to face his weaknesses.

Part of the resulting roundelay feels like a throwback to Allen's A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, but there is also a palpable sense of melancholy more reminiscent of his mid-period films like Crimes and Misdemeanors and Husbands and Wives. What remains consistent throughout is the filmmaker's incurable romanticism, a freshly optimistic viewpoint that makes the film thoroughly pleasurable despite the familiar set-up. The performances are terrific beginning with Rebecca Hall, a surprising find as Vicky, a young woman who thought she knew what she wanted only to find out too late that it's not what she wants at all. As a typical Allen heroine, Hall lets her initially strident manner as Vicky give way to a resonating sadness. As for Scarlett Johansson, the third time's definitely a charm. In Match Point, Allen exploited her effortless sensuality, while he tried to make her a fumbling Diane Keaton copy in Scoop. As Cristina, however, she gets to blend together her carnal allure and comic insecurity in a more seamless fashion. She has a wonderfully funny moment when she just can't control her titillation at Juan Antonio's proposal in the restaurant.

For those who have only recently been introduced to his mesmerizing work by way of his maniacal killer in the Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men, Javier Bardem is completely convincing as Juan Antonio, a man who effortlessly controls the fates of the three women enraptured by his sensual manner and open soul. Unlike a shallower actor like Antonio Banderas, Bardem manages to move between smoldering and vulnerable with fluency. As Maria Elena, Penélope Cruz finally comes into her own in a non-Almodóvar film. Taking the concept of a tortured artist to an extreme, the actress blazes with dangerous vitality, even though the role is relatively minor. She brings visceral life to the combative relationship between her and Juan Antonio, and at the same time, displays a sharp Allenesque wit, especially when she slyly ridicules Cristina in Spanish during their tension-filled conversations. The always-reliable Patricia Clarkson is quietly effective as a family friend of Vicki's with secrets of her own, while Chris Messina conveys the right level of unctuous smarminess as Doug.

The film is beautiful to look at thanks to the luscious, sun-dappled cinematography by Javier Aguirresarobe. With Gaudi's most famous work on display, Barcelona could hardly look more appealing on film. Just as evocative is the atmospheric music by a bevy of contemporary Spanish composers. The one aspect that doesn't work quite as well as intended is Christopher Evan Welch's stentorian narration, which lacks the right level of irony to make the ploy worthwhile. Most of the time, it comes across as a conceit to explain parts of the narrative that seem clear enough from the scenes. Regardless, this is a genuine return to form for Allen and well worth seeing for fans.

catalan
People have been waiting for years for Woody Allen to make another "Annie Hall" but it is not going to happen. Allen has moved on and sometimes up from that classic: the benchmark of the 30+ years of his making films.
Without putting too much effort into it, I can think of a number of very fine films that Allen has made since "AH": "Another Woman," "Hannah and her Sisters," "Manhattan Murder Mystery," "Manhattan," "Broadway Danny Rose" and on and on. But he has also made some clunkers like "The Curse of the Jade Scorpion" and "Small Time Crooks." All in all a great career: one made up of hits and misses, par for the course with someone who has been making films for a long time.
Now comes his newest: "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" made in Barcelona and redolent of that beautiful city: hot dusty, passionate, sultry, crazy, always bursting forth with life and love...a city in which all is possible, everyone is open to experience everything...or should be.
Into this milieu comes two American women: Vicky (Rebecca Hall: pretty yet bland) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson: beautiful and luscious) both looking for something: but what?
Vicky is the more realistic of the friends. Working on a Master's on Catalan identity which she is pursuing despite knowing almost any Spanish!
Cristina (Johansson), on the other hand, is into suffering, passion and risk. She recently finished a 12-minute film on why love is hard to define and has just broken up with the latest of a string of boyfriends.
It's Cristina, a bodacious blonde who naturally catches the eye of painter Juan Antonio (a womanizer: charming and sexy Javier Bardem) at an art opening. He's just been through a difficult divorce from Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz in a chew the scenery with relish performance), a wife who stuck a knife in him, but that doesn't stop this unabashed seducer from chatting them both up and inviting them to spend a ménage-à-trois weekend with him. "Life is short and full of pain," he candidly explains, "and this is a chance for something special."
Juan Antonio, who eventually romances both, teaches them about Love and Life and leaves them both with a richer knowledge of themselves and a working knowledge of the world in general. Juan Antonio is the Voltaire of Lotharios.
The Spanish duo of Bardem and Cruz bulldoze their way through this movie with their wit, charm and unwitting knowledge of what works in film acting often over-powering the relative blandness of Hall and Johansson.
"Vicky Cristina Barcelona" is not the best film that Woody Allen has ever made but neither is it near the worst and as such it is a pleasure: rich with the patented Allen world vision and irony that makes us smile with recognition of something both familiar yet unusual and remarkable.

Warm interesting romantic drama
A nice tight study of the imperfect nature of relationships.
Simple clear plot, believable characters (though exagerated for comic purposes) and decent acting.

A watchable flick.