Review: Vicky Christina Barcelona

Vicky Christina Barcelona (click title to view trailer) is the latest addition to Woody Allen’s huge repertoire. Of course it’s written and directed by him so the fans should be recognizing the ‘Woody Allen’ touch. I’m not really into Woody Allen so I haven’t seen that many of his films, which means that I won’t be judging this film on whether this is one of his best or that his films are getting worse or anything like that, because frankly..I just don’t know.

What I do know though, is that this film is a lot cooler than it looks. Either this film had been badly marketed or I’m just a dumbass, because I had never heard of it before I went to go and see it. Even worse, I had no idea it had really cool actors in it until I was watching it, so that was a fun recognizing game. For anybody else who missed out, the movie stars Javier Bardem (yes that’s the really cool dude who won best supporting actor last year!), Penelope Cruz (Volter), Scarlett Johansson(let’s forget the Spirit ok?) and Rebecca Hall (Wide Sargasso Sea, Starter for Ten)

So what it has a good-looking cast! What the hell is the friggin movie about anyway?, I hear you thinking. Well, thet title basically says it all. It’s about the two main characters Vicky and Christina, who go to Barcelona for a nice holiday and there they meet the seductive Javier Bardem. Vicky is a very sensible type of woman who is getting married to a guy she doesn’t really love. (hey, that’s a paradox) and Christina is more of a dreamy ‘I’ll sleep with anybody in search of myself’ type. They both fall in love with Spanish artist Javier Bardem and a wild romance/love triangle ensues!

The film is interesting enough, even though the message sometimes seems somewhat akward, but the locations are beautiful, as are the actors, plus, the soundtrack sticks out as very befitting for the film. It never gets really supergood but it’s pretty entertaining nonetheless. I might have enjoyed it more watching it at home sitting comfortably in my living-room, but it felt worth going to the cinema for as well. Just don’t expect anything exciting to happen. But if Spain, wine, guitar music and wild romances are your kind of thing than this is one of the better films to look out for. I’m going ahead and giving it a Full Price.

Rating: Full Price

Conclusion: Beautiful locations, music and an interesting screenplay make for a delightful film, so bring out the wine.