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Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

Director: Woody Allen

Time Out rating

Average user rating

29 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Woody Allen’s European tour heads south to Spain for a funny, lusty film that will have fans breathing a sigh of relief after the embarrassing gulf between intention and reality that was ‘Cassandra’s Dream’. A little distance goes a long way: while Allen’s cock-eyed attempts to infiltrate the greasy spoons of Kentish Town in his last film or the country houses of the Home Counties in ‘Match Point’ proved too much for British audiences, most will be happy to swallow the Spanish and Catalan clichés – Gaudí, Miró, long-haired lotharios with guitars – that Allen lays on liberally in return for a light, witty, sexy exchange of views on flirting, relationships, commitment and the ongoing clash of lifestyles in the old and new worlds.

It helps Allen’s cause that his story is about Americans in Europe: two graduates, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) – one dark-haired, sensible and engaged to a humourless, chino-fancying financier, the other blonde, instinctive and single – arrive in Barcelona to spend the summer at the home of expat friends of Vicky’s family.

The pair’s conflicting attitudes to life and love are challenged by a gift from the Spanish gods: Javier Bardem is Juan Antonio Gonzales, an artist whose looks and lifestyle typify Allen’s perverse, tongue-in-cheek idea of the wild Latin temperament. When Juan suggests a weekend away in Oviedo and, maybe, some love-making (Vicky scoffs, Cristina pants) a love triangle emerges that not only highlights and upsets Vicky and Cristina’s differing ideals but also lumps them together in the same camp when the triangle morphs into a square: enter Juan Antonio’s hot-headed ex-wife Maria Elena, played by Penélope Cruz, who makes even Cristina look like a nun sucking lemons. Allen seems to be saying: Americans, get over yourselves. Our sympathies are squarely with the free-living and loving attitude of Juan Antonio over Vicky’s uptight mask or the drippy attitudes of her fiancé Doug (Chris Messina), who arrives mid-film.
The script is witty and playful, the casting just right: Hall and Johansson make for a warm contrast and Cruz and Bardem are more than willing to indulge Allen’s Spanish fantasies while running with the comedy of their characters’ love-hate relationship. Cruz only appears halfway, but Allen sets her up brilliantly with Bardem dropping mysterious mention of his fiery ex into every other sentence.

Exploring the mystery of what makes intelligent men and women tick in harmony and disharmony is what Allen does best, and so we’re back in the territory of ‘Husbands and Wives’ or ‘Hannah and Her Sisters’ with this jaunt, which neither takes itself too seriously nor wastes its ideas with sloppy craftmanship, both of which have upset his plans before.
The film has a pleasing pace, using voiceover to hop between scenes, some of which are mere tableaux. There’s no Allen or Allen alter-ego in this film, although we hear his puppeteer’s voice: ‘If you don’t start undressing me soon, this is going to turn into a panel discussion,’ breathes Cristina to Juan. ‘Let’s not get into one of these categorical imperative arguments,’ pleads Doug, summoning the ghost of Allen marching through Manhattan with Diane Keaton. After a hiccup at immigration, Allen can keep his passport – for now.

Author: Dave Calhoun 2009-02-03 10:56:42

Time Out London Issue 2007, 5 - 11 Feb, 2009

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User reviews of this film

usman khawaja said...

Posted on Feb 18 2009 12:50 suburbia SEDUCED BY BOHEMIAN BARCELONA - woody allen seems to have lost any sense of originality he possessed and in this bohemian artifice he needs a voice over to define and describe his characters ,is there anything more pathetic in cinema where a maker has to narrate the felling of his characters to deliver the message to the audience .
SUBURBIA yanks in the form of a nymph christina SCARLETT and the miss republican representing miss palin end up for a summer of fun in barcelona and a rather misadventure begins which is a recreation of some form of a contemporary biopic of mr-picasso as they get feted and dined and bedded by a bohemian painter played typically by BARDEM .
he is a stereotype latin stud who paints ,flies planes and has a sports car very typical of an upstart californian yet he is an intellectual in this lamely intelligent pretension of the cliched american view of free living europeans ,
his wife or ex wife is played by a fiery CRUZ who is imitating sophia loren rather well for a change as an exotic latina but she also has a character that lets her down as the script pairs her with bardem and scarlett.
THEY indulge in a threesome which is rather not shocking at all despite allen trying to make it look very non structured and rebellious and actually looks inserted and misplaced if not forced to happen ,
the movie looks and sounds very pretty and every scenic view of barcelona is placed on the screen with rather a charming little song to make it a nice tour for americans and non americans who are unaware of gaudi and miro-somehow woody missed the picasso museum or was it deliberate as bardem was playing picasso himself .
it all gets pretty monotonous as bardem bed all the three women who all profess to be in love with him and actually proclaim so to him and each other .
there are other peripheral characters like a bourgeois american fiancee of vicky who is as conservative as mr.bush ,but also very understanding when it comes to his girlfriend spending the entire summer in barcelona .
this is charming at places where some banter between cruz and bardem gets interesting but the rest of it is like a trashy euro flick which get showns as personal movies at homes and never get theatrical release .
this has a star cast with serviceable performances and good production values but enough hypocrisy and lies to define human relationships in the most hilariously destructive modes with characters who are all in moody swings but not in any mode to convince us of their transitory emotions or their so -called intellect which seems a rather big pretense just as flawed as the art produced by the 3 artists in this trashy euro flick .
scarlett becomes a photographer while cruz and bardem go back to being a psychopathic couple living and shouting in barcelona in this pathetic whimsical whimper with rather lilting music and postcard cinematography.

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Mark said...

Posted on Feb 16 2009 18:11 Pete's bum itch would probably have been more interesting for me as well. For those unfamiliar with Woody Allen, you could be forgiven for staying the distance with this film and (wrongly) thinking it was something new. However, anyone who loves his earlier stuff (particularly the fantastic Husbands & Wives) will be sorely disappointed by this pointless and, I'm afraid to say, unfunny & uninsightful film. Come on Woody! Grow up man! We've been here before...why isn't your artistic impulse maturing and giving us something new and fresh. Moreover, there was absolutely NO reason to film this particularly in Barcelona apart from the fact that there are no, say, famous Italian stars like Cruz and Bardem walking around. Ultimately, extremely disappointing light entertainment which is not worth a trip to the cinema.

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Pete said...

Posted on Feb 15 2009 13:59 I left 5 mins into the film, I had an itch on my left buttock that was more interesting.

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John said...

Posted on Feb 15 2009 13:50 Well folks I thought it was utter plop...

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John Cooper said...

Posted on Feb 13 2009 21:43 Ignore the negative comments made about this film, and
full marks to the Time Out reviewer for an accurate
balanced review of an enjoyable, and entertaining film.
It's a big improvement on Woody Allen's recent efforts
which he tried to graft a European sensibility onto his
essentially American `weltanschauung`. Allen is at his best when he shows us how our emotional needs clash
with the rationality needed for survival, and how concept of morality can be perverted by sexual passion.
This is one of his pleasing films in terms of aesthetic
structure . . . it is perfectly pitched. .. . between comedy
and tragedy . . .. . . . . never , as the Time Out review
points, taking itself too seriously. . . . I fear, however,
that with a plot in which the male protagonist sleeps with three beaufiful woman, it is not going to please
the feminists or the intellectual poseurs who react with
distaste to audiences actually `enjoying` a film. It really doesn't matter that sometimes the characters sound like
Allen himself, as this is essentially a philosophical
film which asks questions about the dangers of artistic
endeavour and the compromises involved in making safe rational decisions . . .and continues that long-standing debate . . between European decadence and the simplistic morality of the American `dream`

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Craig said...

Posted on Feb 13 2009 13:28 I am currently looking into watching this film, just for the laugh because it looks suacy. But to be quite honest I dont think its worth it, even for a laugh.

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Anne said...

Posted on Feb 12 2009 16:12 I don't see what all the critics are talking about, the dialogue is lame, the plot flimsy and the girls are wooden in the extreme. Javier looks hot though

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olek said...

Posted on Feb 12 2009 09:25 Weak film. Weak humour. Lots of "narrator voice". Don't waste your time (unless it's hurricane outside and you need to hide somewhere e.g. in the cinema).

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Julian said...

Posted on Feb 11 2009 08:28 Dreadful film. Dreadful acting. "What?" - Scarlett you said it.

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jim said...

Posted on Feb 04 2009 10:27 geoff, seriously, calm down. it's not gritty realism. take a leaf out of serge's book and get yourself some nice happy drugs.

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Serge said...

Posted on Feb 03 2009 17:37 Scarlett Johansson "actress"actually is a clone from original person,who has nothing with acting career.Clone was created illegally using stolen biomaterial.Original Scarlett Galabekian last name is nice, CHRISTIAN young lady.I'll tell more,those clones(it's not only 1)made in GERMANY-world leader manufacturer of humans clones,it's in Ludwigshafen am Rhein,Rhineland-Palatinate,Mr.Helmut Kohl home town.You can't even imaging the scale of the cloning activity.But warning,H.Kohl staff strictly controlling their clones spreading around the world,they're NAZI type disciplined and mind controlled,be careful get close with clones you will be controlled too.Original family didn't authorize any activity with stolen biomaterials,no matter what form it was created in,it's all need to be back to original family control in Cedars-Sinai MedicalCenter in LA.Controlling clones is US military operation.Original Scarlett never was engaged,by the way

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Geoff said...

Posted on Dec 26 2008 00:34 This cliché-overload of a film is, quite simply, awful. The narrative runs like an over-colourful promotional video to persuade package-holiday Americans that Europe really is a friendly, even bucolic, backwater where strategically-placed US-friendly characters will make you feel at home. Apparently it is set in Spain, or more specifically Cataluña but to anyone who has actually lived in Spain this is far from clear. The two main female protagonists are American and they stay with friends in Barcelona who are American. One of them, we are told, has done some Catalonian studies course but behaves more like an extra from Annie Hall. The only people they meet in the street are their friends from the States – what a coincidence... Even hunky Javier Bardem, who IS Spanish, speaks English – but with an ‘oh-so-sexy’ Spanish accent. And in a further absurd plot contortion, he has to force Penelope Cruz to speak English with him, even when they are alone together because he has American “guests” in the house. This sure is No Country for Spanish, old or otherwise.
Then up pops an irritating voice-over, spoken by no-one in particular, explaining important information such as how Bardem took our plucky Vicky and Cristina for dinner in “a lovely restaurant” or how the daring duo traverse the Tourist Board Top Ten of this Ye Olde Europe metropolis, wandering open-mouthed through the architectural marvels of Gaudi etc etc.
Then there is Javi’s “Dad” and what a jolly rustic old stereotype he is too – oh how we chuckled… And how we rolled in the aisles when Pen hammed up her crazy Latin woman act, even sometimes swearing in Spanish. And, not least, we have open-air flamenco in Oviedo – technically possible but in reality highly unlikely and certainly not “typical”. But then we are not really in Spain or making any attempt to engage with Spanish culture. We are instead in Woody Allen’s watch-by-numbers world for the culturally-deficient.
Yet there is alarming talk of Oscar nominations and other awards. Dave Calhoun’s hugely over-generous review does, in the end, hint at some of the flaws when he refers to the possibility of “Spaniards booing in the aisles in the same way that many Brits reacted to Allen’s ‘Match Point’ and ‘Cassandra’s Dream’. And indeed, this is more than mere possibility. In Spain, the film has had a mediocre critical reception at best. According to the main Madrid arts and cultural guide’s review of reviews star rating, it currently lies in 16th place out of 18.
Quite honestly, the only reason for seeing this film is to see how bad it really is.

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kenneth, glasgow said...

Posted on Oct 22 2008 15:50 I saw this film in Barcelona last week with my friend who is Catalan. We both liked the film and thought it was worth a watch. It seemed to be well received in the cinema. Its not a great film, but a good film. If you like Barcelona you will like some of the shots and camerawork. Its a fairly light film, but certainly worth a visit, particularly if you like Woody Allen films.

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valerie said...

Posted on Oct 07 2008 17:35 woody shows the spanish culture very well..beautiful images of barcelona

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