Perhaps worst of all is the unfortunate character of Doug (Chris Messina), Vicky’s fiancé. Never has the character of the boring, stuck-up, upper-class twit who doesn’t stand a chance against the dark, brooding, and romantically impulsive male been so embarrassingly realized. I felt sorry for Doug.
And Allen’s writing has lost its charm and its zing. The movie is incessantly narrated in the fashion of “and now Cristina takes a sip of wine as her brows furrow in thought” as we sit and watch Cristina take a sip of wine, her brows furrowed, deep in thought. I wanted to scream, “Shut up!”
I thought the old Allen was about to return when Doug started saying, “That reminds me of an old joke…” But then the sound faded away, leaving his lips (those lips again) flapping silently. It seems Woody Allen can’t even conjure up jokes any longer. What’s the world coming to?
I was about to give up on Vicky Cristina Barcelona when something very exciting happened. Penelope Cruz showed up. Suddenly, the screen came to life and even Bardem started to have fun, his character throwing paint about like the artist we had until then only been told he is.
Cruz is probably Spain’s greatest export. She doesn’t even need a well-written character. She makes something beautiful out of nothing. I could watch her iron a shirt while listening to her lyrical voice – in English or in Spanish – all day. Of course, having a great character to play doesn’t hurt as she and Spain’s Pedro Almodovar proved with All About My Mother and Volver.
Yes, I think Barcelona should ask for its money back and keep it local by sliding it over to Almodovar and Cruz instead.
Article comments
1 - Lisa Solod Warren
Ah, C'mon, Bardem is a hunk and his haircut was much better. Barcelona looked good (it's one of my favorite cities) and Cruz was awesome. The movie was completely derivative and stolen from Eri Rohmer (badly) but it was fun to look at all the Gaudi and imagine myself there once again. And Scarlett has an awesome mouth, she does. But, yeh, Allen has lost it.