Allen meets Almodovar

Rating: 7/10 (1 February 2009)

Vicky Christina Barcelona has Woody Allen meeting Pedro Almodovar, & if you, like myself, love both these directors, you will definitely like this movie. So here you have Woody Allen's typical style, his breezy storytelling, his dry, quick wit & he throws in dashes of Almodovar's raging passions here & there & you get a concoction that is just right. Woody Allen likes his women beautiful, yet not sexy in their truest sense, not in the wild, free sense of the term at least. Here Allen's latest muse Scarlett Johansson (who has been in all of Allen's last few films) & the equally beautiful Rebecca Hall play the two American tourists going to Barcelona for a summer where their very lives are turned around in a whirlwind of romance, emotions, romance & art. You have the very talented, very handsome Javier Bardem playing the painter Juan Antonio who is the ultimate bohemian & treats life like a piece of art, full of sensual pleasures. Then there is Almodovar's muse Penelope Cruz, playing the free spirited Maria Elena, who is consumed by the passion that drives her, often burning bright, often burning her out. There is also a scene with the very Almodovarian Spanish soirée with the protagonists being overwhelmed by the music & then falling into passion. Overall, like all Allen's movies, this one too is witty & funny, never gets preachy or boring & is completely entertaining.