Woody is back and makes an enjoyable movie!

Rating: 8/10 (24 August 2008)

At my movie theater that I work at for some odd reason we got Vicky Cristina Barcelona 2 weeks after it's release, strange, but I don't know how these things work. But people were walking out very pleased with the movie. So I decided to go ahead and check it out, so I watched it this afternoon. Now we all have to admit, Woody has just been out of his game these past few decades, not since Annie Hall has he had a very memorable film. Nor have none of them have that creative edge that Woody has, but he still has something because Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a good movie. It has a strong story and was very different than any film we have had this year. We have a narrator throughout the film that just tells us the story as if he was reading a book. We have a strong cast that they can all hold their own on scree: Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, and Penelope Cruz. They hold a strong chemistry and make the story very interesting.
Vicky and Cristina are best friends who are going to Barcelona for the summer, Vicky is a believer of realistic love and is engaged to a successful man who can make her ideal marriage dream work. Cristina is the idealist of a romantic love and meets a Spanish handsome charmer, Juan Antonio who invites the girls to another city for a weekend. He gets Cristina's notice automatically, but Vicky takes some seducing to get into bed. But Juan's crazy ex wife gets back into his life and just makes things very interesting for Cristina. Vicky starts to question her ideals on love when she is just swept off her feet with Juan.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a very well told story and nothing like I've seen before. Even though I found it to be unrealistic at times, this movie was just different, which we all need and Woody has a talent for showing that, as he has shown us with his private life, lol. But the acting is good and there are some funny moments and some touching one's as well. I loved how crazy Penelope was in this movie, she was like Fatal Attraction scary, yet you could see how Javier's character fell for her so hard, I don't blame him, I found her craziness attractive as well. So I do recommend this movie if you have the opportunity to see it, the characters are cool and the story is wonderful, Woody is back and throws in one last punch in the fight for his career.
8/10