Slightly Above Average

Rating: 6/10 (29 November 2009)

Let me start by saying that I don't care much for Woody Allen's films. I find them to be pretentious with an annoying, snotty undertone. "Vicky Christina Barcelona" definitely has some of that, but I supposed I enjoyed it a bit more than other Woody Allen films I've seen.
This movie starts out as a complete bore for the first half until Penélope Cruz makes her entrance. Vicky, Christina, and Juan Antonio are all characters that I hardly cared about. And to make matters worse, they all have that "we're so much smarter and artsier than everyone else" tone that many characters in Allen's movies have. Beyond the character flaws the plot is one that really just bored me.
As I touched on earlier, Penélope Cruz really makes this movie. She plays her part magnificently and unlike the other main characters, Maria Elena is a very interesting character. She single handedly makes the second half of this film one hundred times better than the first.
I was going to give this film a five for a rating, but I really liked the ending quite a bit. I like how the main characters did not necessarily get what they wanted, but things were still okay. All too often you'll get this type of film end with everyone getting exactly what they want, or if they don't, it is really traumatic. It was refreshing to see a movie of this genre end the way that this did. The part with the gun was cool too. It was definitely not how you expected the film to end.