Superbly Cast, Brilliantly Executed

Rating: 10/10 (23 February 2009)

Upfront: I don't recall a single joke in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," which in itself suggests a film by someone other than Woody Allen. Yet it is certainly one of the best movies Woody has ever made -- focused on the personalities and characters of the four main protagonists. They are the two American tourists, visiting Barcelona for the summer, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson), the magnetic Spanish painter, Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) and his moody, explosive ex-wife, Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz). Without giving away too much of the plot, Vicky, the sensible and apparently self-contained one, and Cristina, eager for novelty and sexual adventure, are both attracted to Juan Antonio -- Vicky guiltily and Cristina unreservedly. And into the picture strides the mercurial Maria Elena, complicating an already complicated and explosive emotional mix. The four principals in this film have been brilliantly chosen. And while Penelope Cruz clearly deserved the Oscar she won as Maria Elena, Hall, Johansson and Bardem also acquit themselves with distinction. I don't recall an ensemble in my entire film-going experience that equals these four. Woody Allen has somehow, somewhere acquired a sensitivity that has been evinced only sporadically over his long career. Annie Hall and Hannah and Her Sisters are previous examples but not as sustained, not as free of his characteristic joking. This is a magnificent movie and should have been more widely rewarded than it was. I was particularly impressed with Rebecca Hall, whom I don't remember having seen before, though Penelope Cruz, as the script allowed undoubtedly stole the show without over-acting.