Vicky Christina Barcelona

Much like beautiful women and complicated relationships, a strong sense of place has evolved into one of the defining trademarks of a “Woody Allen Film.” After many New York stories and a brief stopover in London, his latest film, Vicky Christina Barcelona, is set in and influenced by the large Spanish city of its title. Like this setting, the film is eccentric, chaotic and colourful, marking a return to the screwball comedies of Allen’s earlier career. The film opens as best friends Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Christina (Scarlett Johansson) arrive in Barcelona for the summer. An obtrusive yet strangely appropriate voice-over informs us that the two are alike in everyway, barring their approach to love. While Vicky enjoys stability, predictability and control, the passionate Christina knows only that these are qualities she wants to avoid. When the very charming Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) steps onto the scene, the trajectory of the narrative seems inevitable.

As expected, both women go wild over this charismatic Spaniard, and fall into infatuations that will dictate the rest of their holiday. Allen keeps things fresh with unexpected turns and ridiculous twists, yet the core of the storyline remains reasonably predictable and somewhat unremarkable. Penelope Cruz’s entrance about half-way through the film helps alleviate potential dullness; she is quite captivating as Juan’s hysterical ex-wife, Maria Elena. Johansson also delivers a fine performance, developing some very intense chemistry with Cruz. Ultimately though, Vicky Christina Barcelona is a film enjoyed but quickly forgotten. Beyond the colourful Spanish setting and soundtrack and the sparkling performances from the film’s two leading starlets, this is basically a light-hearted romantic comedy. This lightness renders this film well suited to summer’s plethora of outdoor cinemas, but it is nonetheless likely to slip into obscurity as soon as the season is over.