The Woodman hits a home run, finally (some mild spoilers)

Rating: 10/10 (19 August 2008)

Perhaps the oldest working director in films (at least that would seem to be so for a successful stand-up comic WHO STARTED IN THE FIFTIES!) has turned out a beaut. Woody Allen has penned an adult romantic comedy with ten times the laughs (at least for me) of Pineapple Express. Called "Vicky And Christina Spend the Summer in Barcelona".
The star of the film is none other than the cold killer from No Country For Old Men, Oscar winner Javier Bardem proving his acting range goes way beyond scaring the s-word out of people. He plays a full of life, passionate Spanish painter-lover, and bless him for this. He nails a fine-wine getting hotter as she gets older Penelope Cruz, an equally desirable please-let-me-have-this Scarlett Johansen and a prissy uptight academic Rebecca Hall, who none of you ever heard of before (admit it). Sometimes more than one of them at the same time.
The acting is flawless. That's why Penelope and Scarlett stand out from other cinema hotties....they can act, they both have their craft down perfectly. Sadly, none of them go nude in the flick, but guys, there is a scene between Penny and Scarlett that will make you want to stand up and cheer anyway. YAHOOOOOO !!!
Woody's script shows two particular brilliancies, that seems to evade the rest of the hacks of Hollywood. He likes to insert his own film personnae into his films, and this time it's the Rebecca Hall character who does the Woodman's comedic pseudo-intellectual schtick. Really smart to switch himself to the woman, cause when he's used younger actors as himself, it becomes imitative parody and fails. And Woody himself it just too old for any make-up genius to make you think he is only 60, an age he passed a long long time ago. Rebecca is remarkable, holding her own against the two stellar screen beauties...and making her far less than super looks come out as still highly desirable.....in controlled passion coming out of it's containment at last.
Secondly, Woody brilliantly uses a narrator to make his cinematic novel come alive. The dialogue you would read in a novel comes to life in the faces of this great crew of actors. And instead of adding 30+ minutes of extraneous films to set the scene, or making stupid dialogue just so the audience can be informed of the plot, a simple line or two or concise narration keeps the film moving at a perfect pace. And Woody uses a young actor, not his old self for the narrator, which would have detracted from the youth and exuberance of the film.
Also, the musical score and the cinematography are great, simply great. Good job old guy. I loved the film. You made us old guys proud. And err, next time could you let us see Johannsen's goods. I KNOW she's shown you, you can't lie to M2b. So share.