Vicky Christina Barcelona shows that Woody Allen still has it

The great director's 40th feature is his best since Match Point

I'd been trying to get to see Woody Allen's newest, VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA, for the past week, and finally got there on Saturday—a nice, air-conditioned matinee at the beautiful Orinda Theater. The movie is a real treat for a couple of reasons. The first three are location, location, location. Barcelona is beautiful  through Woody's eye (and cinmeatograher Javier Aguirresarobe's lens), watching the movie made me want to have dinner after midnight that night. One of the great thrills I find at a matinee movie is the ability to escape through time and space to European cities and/or backwoods gothic nightmares (I also watched the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre this weekend).

Another thing VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA has going for it is a pretty spectacular cast. The great Spanish actor Javier Bardem, who won an Oscar for last year's NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, is wonderful here as a gentle lothario/abstract painter. Scarlett Johanssen and Rebecca Hall are fetching as Christina and Vicky, American tourists spending the summer in Barcelona. And Penelope Cruz just rocks the house s Bardem's ex-wife and soulmate. Her performance is astonishing, passionate, and painful. Look for her to score an Oscar nomination.

Allen's screenplay weaves Vicky and Chrisina through a labyrinth of love's mysteries. Pragmatic Vicky wants to look at art and soak in culture, and then go back to New York and marry her very-American fiancé. Free-wheeling Christina isn't sure what she wants, but Bardem's sudden invitation for a weekend of sightseeing and lovemaking intriques her. Each character's romantic identity is tested, much wine is consumed, and its all very pleasant and interesting for those of us tucked into the darkened theater. The roaming romanticism of this film reminded me of Allen's wonderful late '70s masterpiece, MANHATTAN. Not quite at that level, but very good.

After making myriad films set in Manhattan, its great to see Woody go European—his set-in-England thriller from 2005, MATCH POINT, ranks among my favorites of all Allen's films. BARCELONA is easily his best since, and up there with SWEET AND LOWDOWN, MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY, and BULLETS OVER BROADWAY as the best since the 1989s, CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS.

 

Posted at 10:55 AM in Pete's Popcorn Picks | Permalink