Vicky Cristina Barcelona…
Made me want to go to Spain really badly…and was a great movie. It’s a pleasure to have a Woody Allen film that actually feels like a Woody Allen film. At first I was a little nervous. Some of the dialogue felt stilted, but as the story progressed, I came to embrace it and the voiceover narration that I wasn’t sure I liked at first.
Scarlett Johanssen was less annoying to me than she usually is. Rebecca Hall deserves more credit (the story is mainly about her). Penelope Cruz is magnificent. Her fiery Maria Elena is not just entertaining, but a fabulous performance. Javier Bardem is sexy. I mean he’s good too. But mostly he’s sexy.
Some sequences felt like a travelogue for Barcelona, which was totally intentional, and worked fabulously within the context of the film. The scenery moves the girls, and hence moves the audience as well.
The soundtrack was also extremely well chosen, especially Giulia y Los Tellarini’s “Barcelona.” I proceeded to download the entire thing on iTunes once I got home.
This is added to the the list of my favorite 2008 summer movies. So far:
Iron Man
Wall-E
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
