Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

By CinemaSerf

"Vicky" (Rebecca Hall) is the more sensible and realistic of the friends. "Cristina" (Scarlett Johansson) tends to fly more by the seat of he pants - and both have come to the lively and vibrant city of Barcelona for an holiday. Almost immediately then encounter the typically mischievous painter "Juan Antonio" (Javier Bardem) who invites them for a weekend at his. Initially this story rather goes as we might expect, but the emergence of his ex-wife "Maria Elena" (Penêlope Cruz) and "Doug" (Chris Messina) who's the rather nice but dim boyfriend of "Vicky" now provides us with all the ingredients for a sexually tense maelstrom set amidst the temperamentally unsound worlds of art, wine and sunshine. I think this is Woody Allen's writing at it's best here. It's funny and poignant whilst at the same time light-hearted enough to allow the actors to develop the characters in a natural and engaging fashion. Bardem is great as the painter but it's Cruz who really shines here. Her portrayal of the highly-strung "Maria Elena" is at times embarrassing, then hilarious then - when she has a gun, well that's just downright dangerous (even if she couldn't hit a barn door with a shovel). It's a great looking film using the beautiful city and it's Gaudi architecture as a fitting backdrop for a drama that Christopher Evan Welch narrates (sparingly) in an almost sarcastic fashion. It packs plenty into ninety-odd minutes and is a strong example of an ensemble cast working well together.