Review of Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) by Thiago K — 13 May 2012

This is a hilarious comedy about a pair of innocent American students on a trip to Barcelona who fall in with a charming and sophisticated Spanish artist. The plot moves along at a quick pace as characters hook up and break up, often in novel and unexpected combinations and it succeeds marvelously on different levels as a light romantic love story and a deeper film about that Jamesian theme of the new world versus the old.

The tone and style of the film are set and guided by a narrator privy to the innermost thoughts of the characters. Vicky is a graduate student studying Catalan, engaged to a successful businessman while Cristina is a somewhat slow, artistic young woman whoâ(TM)s very open to new experiences. When they meet a suave and sophisticated artist in a restaurant their lives take a very different path than they were expecting.

The casting and performances are uniformly excellent. Rebecca Hall is superb as an engaged young woman who thinks sheâ(TM)s got her life all figured out until she meets an artist who touches a part of herself she hadnâ(TM)t been aware of before. Playing her dreamy, artsy friend is Scarlett Johansson who brings to her role a naivety born of inexperience and not incompetence. And Javier Bardem at first smolders then panics as the confident painter who easily seduces the two American women but canâ(TM)t come anywhere near the same level of control when heâ(TM)s dealing with his ex-wife, a flaky, emotional, and destabilized Penelope Cruz in an Oscar-winning performance.

There are many pleasures to be had from this film, from the beautiful scenery of the setting, to the excellent choice of music on the soundtrack, a given in any Woody Allen film. The plot, characters and dialogue are all very sophisticated and enjoyable in this charming and witty tale about the crazy things love can do to us.