Vicky Cristina is Barcelona Bull *

Rating: 2/10 (20 May 2009)

Woody Allen has reached the point in his long career that his films depicting people going for master's degrees and who have sexual neurotic hangups are becoming more ridiculous. Such is the case with this utterly pointless film.
Even the person who serves as the narrator appears to be bored with this entire episode.
Two young girls spend the summer in Barcelona and meet a painter, played by a more subdued and romantic Lothario, Javier Bardem. One lady is going for her master's in art and is engaged to be married to Mr.Nice Guy. The other is an actress who appeared in a 12 minute film about love. Yes, 12 minutes.
Both the girls soon romp with the Bardem character. He has an insanely jealous ex-wife played by Penelope Cruz. Her winning of the best supporting actress Oscar leaves me as perplexed as when Gloria Grahame won in 1952 for "The Bad and the Beautiful." This is totally undeserved as Cruz, as Maria Elena, comes across as a screaming lunatic.
At one point Cristina, played by Scarlett Johansson, takes up with a reunited Bardem and Maria. She then has to go off to Paris for a couple of weeks to think things through. If Allen were trying to create A MENAGE A TROIS, he let a potentially funny idea go awry.
When Vickie, who marries her fiancé in Barcelona, sneaks off with Bardem, she soon encounters a raging Maria, who accidentally shoots her in the hand. Imagining trying to justify to her new husband that she had met her college professor who happened to have a revolver. At least, if Allen had actually had a revolver, this idea might have worked. It doesn't because the picture is absurd.