Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Warning: Do not watch this movie if you are under 21 years of age... Hahahhaha, no lah, i'm kidding, but the film does have a lot (and i mean really A LOT) of references to mature topics such as adultery, bi-sexual relationships, three-people relationships, unhappy marriages, etc etc.. FYI, Penelope Cruz won best supporting actress at the recent Oscars for her portrayal of the hot-headed, fiesty, slightly crazy ex-wife of the male lead..

The plot begins with 2 best friends, Vicky and Cristina of course, who plan to go to (surprise!) Barcelona for a holiday cos Vicky needs to do a thesis on Spanish (Catalan) identity and she needs a break before her marriage to a regular, 'cookie-cutter' guy while Cristina needs to heal from a break-up.. The difference between the two is that Vicky has had her whole life mapped out and planned but Cristina is the spontaneous, free-spirited kind who does things on a whim..

While visiting an art gallery with the people they are staying with, namely Vicky's distant relatives, they meet an interesting guy who is a painter and who has recently separated from him violent, sometimes manic wife.. The weird parts then begin soon after, when the guy meets them during dinner and proposes to bring them on a trip to the countryside where they can "see the sights and maybe even make love", yup he said that... So, Vicky, being the rational one declines and tells him to buzz off, while Cristina, being wild and fun, is interested and in the end manages to drag Vicky along with her..

After that its a wild ride with Vicky betraying her friend by sleeping with the guy- Juan Antonio before Cristina who fails first time cos she fell sick, Cristina having a relationship with both Juan Antonio and his 'crazy' ex-wife who moves in with them, Cristina thinking about her fling all the time even after marriage, etc etc etc, there are many many details that will take to much time to explain..

Whats interesting is that Penelope Cruz's character only appeared at the latter half of the film, and I think its amazing that she could win.. However she did look a bit crazy to me when she was shooting around with a revolver.. The movie is also a bit draggy, eventhough its only one and a half hours, it seems like it took a long time to finish, cos there are many long conversations between the characters.. I like the fact that the whole story was narrated a la Desperate Housewives style, but the narration isn't as funny as I would like it to be..

I feel that its not as nice a movie as it should be, with the kind of premise it has, it could be more engaging.. In the end, I felt like it didn't manage to convey much since the ending was almost the same as the ending, with Vicky going back to her 'perfect' life and Cristina leaving Barcelona not finding what she wanted and living the same 'looking for answers' type of life~ so its back to square one, after going one whole circle for 1 and a 1/2 hours.. :( Whats more, in my opinion, the lead Javier Bardem didn't live up to my expectations, after how so many people have been describing him (got so handsome meh???!)














He kind of reminds me of Texas Pete from the Superted cartoons (see right) or some thug whose mugshot is on a wated sign or something like that.. I think if he asked me out somewhere I would feel he was creepy, hahahhah... :D Can't stop other people from saying he is handsome tho~

Title: Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Director: Woody Allen
Main cast: Scarlett Johansson (Cristina), Penelope Cruz (Maria Alena-the crazy ex-wife), Christopher Evan Welch (Narrator), Javier Bardem (Juan Antonio), Rebecca Hall (Vicky)
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars (extra 1/2 for the beautiful Spanish backdrop, the actresses' nice hair, and the crazy ex-wife role that was fun to watch :D)
More info: Wikipedia