Originally published Thursday, August 14, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Movie review
Not much happens in Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" stars Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem and Scarlett Johansson in a lightweight relationship comedy filmed in a beautiful Spanish light.
Seattle Times movie critic
"Vicky Cristina Barcelona," with Javier Bardem, Patricia Clarkson, Penélope Cruz, Kevin Dunn, Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Messina. Written and directed by Woody Allen. 97 minutes. Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material involving sexuality, and smoking. Guild 45th.
Nothing in theaters at the moment is as pretty as Woody Allen's latest comedy, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," which features not only the lens-cracking gorgeousness of Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson, but a saucy supporting performance by the city of Barcelona and its fanciful Antonio Gaudí architecture. Caught in a yellow light that feels as warm as fresh-baked flan custard, the film has the languid feel of an idealized summer holiday. And if midway through you realize with surprise, as I did, that not much has happened ... well, sometimes not much happens on summer holidays either.
With the addition of Rebecca Hall ("The Prestige"), a young British actress with a long face and lovely droopiness, the film becomes not a love triangle but an unlikely quartet, whose peccadillos are outlined for us by a wry voice-over narrator (Christopher Evan Welch). Vicky (Hall) and Cristina (Johansson) are a pair of Americans spending the summer in Spain; Juan Antonio (Bardem) is the painter they meet in a restaurant on a wine-soaked night. (Come to think of it, the entire movie appears to be soaked in chardonnay.) With his sleepy-eyed charm, he romances both of them; the practical Vicky declines, but the more impulsive Cristina is bowled over — that is, until the arrival of Juan Antonio's volatile ex-wife Maria Elena (Cruz). From here, a variety of twosomes emerge, some of them unexpected, and all of them great-looking.
As relationship comedies go, this one doesn't hold a candle to "Annie Hall"; its story line is featherweight, and when it's over "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" seems to instantly fade away. But it's an improvement over Allen's last movie, the disappointingly familiar thriller "Cassandra's Dream," and there are some lovely moments for the actors. Patricia Clarkson, as the relative of Vicky with whom the young women are staying in Barcelona, has a brief late scene that seems to belong to a different movie but is beautifully played. She speaks of regret, of the corners that life can turn, and Clarkson's weary, knowing voice tells us much more than her words. (She's similarly terrific, in a small role, in "Elegy"; would somebody please give this actress her own movie?)
And Cruz, her hair teased high and her eyes blazing, gives a wickedly funny performance as the tempestuous Maria Elena, who doesn't particularly want Juan Antonio but doesn't want anybody else to have him either. She doesn't trust Cristina ("Her eyes are not one color," Maria Elena notes suspiciously) and warns her ex, saying that she always has his best interests at heart. "Not when you're trying to kill me," says Juan Antonio, recalling an incident from their past. Maria Elena rolls her eyes dismissively. "Oh, that," she says, lightly tossing the thought away like a discarded tissue. It's a screwball role in an otherwise laid-back movie, and Cruz makes it sing.
Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
Carole Lombard's slapstick legacy shines at Seattle Art Museum
Potter star Rupert Grint recovering from swine flu
Train promoting Disney's upcoming "A Christmas Carol" makes a Seattle stop
Movie review: "Moon": Inspired lunacy from Sam Rockwell
At a Theater Near You: Live in Fremont: The undead gather to break a record, watch a film

Tribal Fireworks Rivalry
The Fourth of July marks a long-standing fireworks rivalry between two clans of a Native-American family in Suquamish.
Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech
shopping

events for Sunday, Jul. 5th
- Karan Dannenberg Clothier Progressive...
- Kuhlman Summer Sale
- Alhambra July Sale
- Pink Ginger First Anniversary Sale
editors' picks
More shopping guides- Plasma and LCD beware; OLED screens ready to go mainstream
- Palin takes to Web for hints of political future
- Fourth of July festivals and fireworks in Seattle, the suburbs and beyond
- Former NFL MVP McNair killed
- Russell Branyan, Mariners fight off the Red Sox
- The Blotter | Man pistol-whipped after argument at nightclub
- Desert-lobster dispute turns pair into sagebrush heroes
- Close-up | Prison guards intercept carrier pigeon with a cellphone
- Woman accuses Sounders FC player Nate Jaqua of sexual assault, seeks more than $10 million
- Rob Johnson's double in 11th powers Mariners past Red Sox, 7-6
- Palin resigning as Alaska governor
756 - Seattle Mariners at Boston Red Sox: 07/04 game thread
244 - Reports: NKorean missile arrives at launch site
100 - Woman accuses Sounders FC player Nate Jaqua of sexual assault, seeks more than $10 million
99 - Palin's Declaration of Independence
73 - Hatred for the NBA runs deep, but don't take it out on the players
62 - Mariners score unlikely win over Red Sox in battle of bullpens
58 - Former NFL MVP McNair killed
56 - Man pistol-whipped after argument at nightclub
41 - Plasma and LED beware; OLED screens ready to go mainstream
28
- Plasma and LCD beware; OLED screens ready to go mainstream
- Merchant Marine veterans fight for recognition
- Close-up | Prison guards intercept carrier pigeon with a cellphone
- Concert Review | Green Day blasts off 4th weekend with KeyArena show
- Pre-grill drill: marinate steaks
- Lake Washington's sockeye run may hit a record low
- Yakima teacher reprimanded for sending 5-year-old student home with bag of feces in backpack
- Art and conversation flow from hands and heart of artist Mandy Greer
- Amtrak cleared for 2nd daily train to Vancouver, B.C.
- Fire danger already here in parched NW forests



