With those entire stories aboard, the ship would sink in the very oceans of dull- and commonness that lie beneath it.

it was on tv a few weeks ago and I didn't really like it this time

Then I will not see it again.

B


It belongs to the better output of Woody Allen nowadays, but not up to the standards of his older stuff and not even on par with Match Point. In some ways, it is classic Woody Allen, though not necessarily in a completely positive meaning of that. It's a film that just starts somewhere and ends in nowhere. Nothing is really resolved and the viewer is just left with, well...nothing.

But that's not too bad. The film lives off its cast ensemble and its terrific atmosphere. Penelope Cruz very deservingly won that Oscar. She's on fire here. I know many are praising her performance in Volver, but I never quite agreed with that. This here, is her best role. It has always been clear that she's at her best when allowed to perform in her native language and while here it is a mixture of Spanish and English, she pulls it off perfectly. Elena might just be Allen's best character since the mid-1990s. She's just brimming with energy and she fully disappears in this role of an unstable, romantic, fragile and aggressive artist. She has great chemistry with Bardem too (no surprise they hit it off in real life).

Speaking of Bardem, he delivers another fine performance here and it's hard not to be jealous of his character (Cruz, Johansson and Hall?! C'mon!). In other words: he's the man! Rebecca Hall delivers a very solid turn as well and Patricia Clarkson lends great support. If the film has a somewhat weak point in acting, it'd be Johansson (just like in Match Point), but it is not that noticeable here since her acting style here fits the character of Cristina. She has some hot chemistry with Bardem too.

However, there's another great character in the film and it is the city of Barcelona and its surroundings. I have rarely ever see a place just captured so perfectly on film that it fully becomes part of the film's spirit...but Allen pulled that off here. This gives the whole film very much the "light summer affair" feeling which is I'm sure what Allen tried to achieve.

For all its achievements, I sitll found it a bit uneven, mixing serious topics with a lot of lightheartedness. Moreover, as I said at the beginning of the review, the film, while very good in the middle, ends in nothing. That's not untypical of an Allen film, but I still wasn't very fond of that. I admit that it got slightly better on the second viewing, so the grade might actually go up in future.

I was watching this and saying this film feels like its by a certain director lol..
I knew Woody Allen was behind this.

Its interesting as it looks at both sides...

It shows problems with married life but it also shows open free love is not perfect either.

Nice to see a film look at both sides and not idealize one or the other.

Vicky was right to go with Doug... Going with the Painter would be fun but the ex-wife would make it hell.

I always thought it was a stereotype, but do Latin couples fight like that all the time...

You mean you started watching it and didn't know it was an Allen movie?

Well Vicky Cristina was never as popular as Match Point and Midnight in Paris so I did not know much about the film. I was actually going through IMDB and saw it had SJ and Cruze and was like SOLD!!!!! (lol shows how much attention I put to directors )

Yeah lol I thought the last film he did was Match Point and then he did Midnight in Paris.

Then I noticed the narration of the film and realized it had to be a Allen film.
loved all three films.

You must have missed those signature Allen opening credits.

well lets say I was acting like a dude, as I just wanted to see SJ and Cruze so I did not pay any attention in the start...lol

Then the storyline and production values seemed great and I noticed the narration and realized it had to be an Allen film.

I watched Allen's old films but never watched his newer films like Match Point or the recent Midnight in Paris.