Review of Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) by John R — 26 Dec 2013

Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a well written tragicomedy, which is one of his most entertaining films in a while. The locations and scenery in this movie are simply beautiful. I never knew how beautiful Spain was it makes me want to go there. Also it has a nice and smoothing score. The script is terrific as it examines complex relationships filled with comedy and tragedy.

All of the performances are stellar, but the one who stands out here is Penelope Cruz, who plays the fiery and beautiful Maria Elena. Rebecca Hall and Javier Bardem are good also. However, Scarlett Johansson is the weak link as she is obviously out of league here. I'm baffled on why Allen continues to cast her in his movies.

The thing that bothered me is the constant narration, which is not needed at all. Narration is a lazy thing to do in screen writing, but I assume Allen does this intentionally. I don't know, but it just bothered me. Even though this is a light hearted movie, it is mainly a drama and I was expecting a little more comedy from it.

It's not a return to form for Allen, but it's still his second best film of the 2000's (right behind Match Point).