Pretentious Woody

Rating: 7/10 (5 December 2009)

Two American women spend a summer in Barcelona and become involved with a local artist with a psycho ex-wife. Bardem is the stereotypical European artist with a tortured soul who is so irresistible to women that they are willing to share his bed five minutes after meeting him. Hall and Johansson are OK as the women who can't stay away from him. The film is pretentious and rather boring until Cruz enters the picture half way through as Bardem's crazed ex-wife, bringing with her the energy and passion that the film otherwise lacks. The score is tiresome and the superfluous narration is annoying. Allen continues to churn them out annually although he rarely has anything fresh to offer.