Review of Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) by Bradley W — 19 Jun 2012

Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a Woody Allen film that really shows his genius when creating characters. He has always had a knack for writing brilliant and intriguing characters that we follow and just drive the story from start to finish, and although he has had a few bumps along his career, this film was not one of them.

This film is a beautiful tale of a very complex love circle, and they all surround one man. The story is good of course, but its not nearly as interesting as these amazing characters we are given. It talks much about love and how we never really know what we want from it, and I love how so many Woody Allen films are able to stay great even though almost all of them follow the subject of love.

But like almost all of these films, we are not given the perfect romantic ending for the characters, but more of an ending that takes a completely different road than what we believe. it almost seems as though Allen doesn't believe in traditional love, but more of the complexity behind it and how much about it there is that we don't even realize.

I love that about his films, and this movie really explores layers of love and how there is sometimes something missing in a relationship. The cast was incredible as well, and is one of the best cast I have seen in a Woody Allen film.

He has always had a talent for having a incredible cast, and here is no exception. Scarlett Johansson plays a believable and sweet role, and I really enjoyed how her character was no0t afraid to explore and just go with what her heart told her.

Rebecca Hall seemed like a more down to earth character and I enjoyed her performance and how troubled she was in this attraction to this man (even against her marriage). Javier Bardem is almost always incredible, I mean I wasn't expecting much from the man who played the psychopath in No Country For Old Men switching to a romance film, but he surprisingly suited the role perfectly.

Penelope Cruz was the scene stealer as the insane ex-wife, and I loved her performance and how she was able to go from crazy to level headed and back to crazy again. My main issue was that this is no way a comedy, I didn't laugh once and was shocked when I discovered it was a comedy because it was much more of a drama.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona says a lot about love and how we don't always know what we want from it, and this proves even after these many years, Woody Allen has not lost his touch.