REVIEW #1: On DVD - "Vicky Christina Barcelona"

Javier Bardem chatting up Scarlett Johanson (above) and Rebecca Hall (below) in Vicky Christina Barcelona.

Sarah B.

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If I could describe this movie in four words…BAD until Penelope Cruz

Being an ardent Woody Allen fan I was so excited for his latest film “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.” I was disappointed by his last movie “Scoop” mostly because I hate Scarlett Johansson, but I had heard only good things about “Vicky Cristina” from my girlfriends…”It just made me want to be in Barcelona every single day of my life” said one of them…I thought to myself, ‘maybe this will be like one of the Woody classics that we all love…maybe Scarlett won’t annoy the hell out of me and maybe she’ll go back to her good ole acting days like in “Lost In Translation.” Afterall, the trailer looked amazing….everything you’d want in a movie…Barcelona, romantic competition, etc etc.”
I started the movie only to find my intelligence being insulted from the onset with a stupid voiceover that told me everything that was happening as I saw it. Despite this initial off-putting feature, I still really really wanted to love this movie and give it a fair chance. As the movie continued the usual annoyed feeling came over me every time I saw Scarlett Johansson on the screen. Her droning voice, and flat character made me clench my fists a little… In fact, both of the women characters seemed painfully obvious and simple. Vicky was rational, and Cristina was emotional. Okay…so now what? Well, they both fall in love with this guy who, in my opinion, was not attractive enough. Furthermore, the love that Vicky had for him was not believable. Why would someone so rational and against the idea of spending any time with this guy fall head over heels in love with him after one night. I mean, I understand that a seductive guy can stick in your mind, but when you know he gets around town I would think that Vicky’s “rational” mind could figure out that it was just casual sex. So why was she so annoyingly clingy? All I can say is, thank god for Penelope Cruz. Cruz plays the part of the ex wife of the male love interest. She is hilariously insane, emotional intense, and gorgeous…well, not hilariously gorgeous, just gorgeous. But anyway, once she came on the screen I was captivated and excited for what she was going to do next. The movie started to become less annoying from the moment she came on, but sadly poor Penelope could not totally save it.
I guess the one redeeming quality about this film, besides Penelope of course, was the idea that perhaps Woody Allen meant this to be making fun of girls like Vicky and Cristina. Girls who go to foreign countries to get away from their dreary lives in America to find that one adventurous romantic affair….what happens in Barcelona stays in Barcelona….Maybe the movie was just capitalizing on all of these clichés in an attempt to make a comical satire. Well, I like that idea, but if Woody Allen was trying to do that he certainly failed. The movie took itself entirely too seriously and consequently the humor of the satire could not pull through the seriousness of the characters.

When all is said and done, this is definitely not the worst movie I’ve seen. I could see it again without killing myself, but this is no masterpiece, and I wish Woody Allen would stop being in love with Scarlett Johansson.

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Ari's Take (1/01/09):

I too miss the good old days when Johanson gave quality performances in films like "Lost in Translation" and "Girl with the Pearl Earring", but frankly, she seems to just be going downhill from there, barely holding her own when on screen with newcomer Rebecca Hall, let alone the film's two powerhouse actors, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz.
I think overall I did enjoy the film much more than Sarah due to the performances and Woody's gifted storytelling, but it was nonetheless deeply flawed.