Vicky Cristina Barcelona

A stranger approaches you and a friend with an offer to take you on a trip and then suggests something wholly inappropriate. The stranger does this with the utmost confidence. What do you say to such an offer? If you are Vicky (Rebecca Hall) you sensibly say no. If you are her best friend Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) then you can't help but be intrigued. If you are that stranger, Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), then you simply keep persuading these two until they get on to your plane.
This is the set up for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," the new film from Woody Allen. Vicky and Cristina are college students spending the summer in Barcelona when Juan Antonio whisks them away to his Spanish home town. Worldly Cristina is instantly charmed while the engaged and upright Vicky is eventually worn down. Both women experience a transformation over the course of the summer, but in very different directions.
Juan Antonio believes that life should be lived fully, without societal rules to keep people from doing as they wish. In "No Country For Old Men," Bardem played the Devil at his most terrifying. Here he plays the Devil at his slickest. He is all charm, his bald-faced honesty ultimately a lie. He is always in control. Until Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz) comes back into his life. She is volatile, scornful, and turns Juan Antonio into a nervous sputtering mess. You can even see glimpses of the "Woody Allen character" in these moments. The two of them are drawn powerfully to each other. Too powerfully. They can only seem to wreak havoc in one another's lives. Somehow though, Cristina's presence seems to make things work. Cristina stays with Juan Antonio and Maria Elena, living life freely and without restrictions, while Vicky tries to make things work with her dull fiance Doug (Chris Messina).
What is so interesting about Allen's film is that he shows what happens when people live without rules for an extended period of time. Sure it's fun at first but before too long it's going to blow up in your face.
"Vicky Cristina Barcelona" is the sort of film that is so enjoyable and engaging that it's not until afterwards that you piece together how depressing it all really is. Ultimately nothing works out for these characters the way they had hoped. Bardem plays Juan Antonio as a man who on some level knows this is doomed from the start. Hall gives a good performance though a great many of her lines seem to sound over written, though that can hardly be put on her shoulders. Johansson once again proves a good fit into the Woodyverse. Her Cristina is not as bohemian or European in spirit as she thinks. It's a very honest performance. The highlight though is Cruz. She dominates the whole of the film, even the scenes she's not in. It's a powerful portrayal of a character fueled by emotion, love and hate almost indistinguishable.
Allen's continuing his European vacation and I am all for it. While "Vicky" is not "Match Point" (some dialogue rings false and the narrator is unnecessary) but all in all it's a very good film and well worth your time. 8/10.