Stylish and beautiful

Rating: 8/10 (14 January 2012)

To call it a masterpiece or a Woody Allen classic would be a major stretch. What it is is a satisfying and fitting conclusion to Woody's European vacation from himself, which started with Match Point and continued with Scoop and Cassandra's Dream. Its major weakness is that it's simply not a Woody Allen original, but a homage to cinema that he loves. For that reason it still feels less authentic to me than even the more mediocre of his classic pieces. But considering the staleness of some of his recent New York movies, I feel he did the right thing by taking this much needed break. And having recently seen the wonderful Whatever Works, I'd say that it worked and he's now ready to return to 'real' Woody Allen films.
That's not to say that Vicky Cristina Barcelona is not an effective and entertaining film by its own right. It's sensual and emotional like few of his movies ever were, and it's incredibly beautiful. A lot of the credit should go to the actors. Javier Bardem and Scarlett Johansson, both among my favorite actors, do a commendable job, but Penelope Cruz and Rebecca Hall are the real surprises here, and they're the ones who really dominate the movie. With phenomenal acting like that, coupled with sharp dialog and beautiful cinematography, it's a very enjoyable, though somewhat forgettable watch - despite some flaws like the narration and annoying music.
On a side note - while stylistically little of what goes on here is original Woody Allen, his themes are all over, and it's no accident that the phrase 'whatever works' slips out of Rebecca Hall's mouth - the connection to the film that has that title is obvious. Knowing now that Whatever Works was a script in work for over a decade, it's conceivable that Woody decided to lead up to it in this more escapist film. Viewing both films as a double-feature, it's easy to conceive it to be another attempt from Woody - as he did try (successfully) in Crimes and Misdemeanors and (not successfully) Melinda and Melinda - to tell the same tale twice, as a comedy and as a tragedy. And viewed like that, it almost actually works.