Movie Review - 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona'

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Starring Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, and Javier Bardem
Directed by Woody Allen
Rated PG-13

Something has stirred in Woody Allen over the past few years. At the beginning of this century, Allen’s best work seemed years behind him. Match Point gave him a darker new voice, as well as a new muse named Scarlett Johansson. He’s made two other films in Britain since, Scoop and Cassandra’s Dream, both of which, like Match Point, also feature a murder. Now the director notorious for never leaving New York has another new location and a new theme in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Allen’s maiden voyage in Spain is a glorious postcard of some of the country’s more beautiful locales, and he feels right at home. Carefree love is the order of the day, a notable contrast from Allen’s New York catalog of relationships undone by that very thing. It is by all appearances the work of a much younger storyteller, one with an entire world left to express. In fact, there has been some idle chatter that the studio releasing this film, The Weinstein Company, is actually downplaying Allen’s involvement in the TV commercials. Frankly, if I hadn’t known it was one of Woody’s, it would be hard to guess its lineage just by watching the film. Allen’s cast is sensual and alluring, with Rebecca Hall and Johansson taking the titular journey through Spain, where they happen upon a lothario in artist’s clothing (Javier Bardem) who requests their company on a weekend getaway with the promise of plenty of wine and the prospect of plenty of lovemaking. Of all the performers in the film, Bardem conveys the most sexuality. If he ever hears no in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, it really only means “not yet.” Though he is attracted to both women, Vicky finds his come-ons boorish and ludicrous. The much more impetuous Cristina is taken in by his advances, yet the progression of the three-headed relationship is not without its surprises. For added drama and heat, Penelope Cruz is introduced about an hour in as Bardem’s crazy ex-wife. The story doesn’t need her, though; it’s sexy enough as it is. In truth, her appearance kind of signals a shortcoming that dooms many a movie: The story had run its course and needed a boost. The problem with it is that the new character re-routes our travelogue, covering ground Woody Allen has seen many times before – the jealous lover, the jilted lover, the complications of love. Vicky Cristina Barcelona is at its best as a hedonistic tale, and if it investigates anything, it should be how difficult it is to manufacture desire. The movie is simply better without its guilt. This is not one of Allen’s very best films, but it is a welcome new twist (or tryst). Along with Match Point, this justifies why, even at 76, Woody should still make any movie he wants to.