Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Last night was pretty quiet. I was watching a few repeats of old comedy shows and some of the more recent comedy panel shows.

Today I went up to the Cineworld cinema. I had intended to see the new Clint Eastwood film, Gran Torino, but I missed the start of the film and so opted instead for the latest Woody Allen film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona. The film revolves around two young Amwerican women, sensible Vicky (played by Rebecca Hall) who is engaged to a nice but dull guy in New York, and impulsive Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) who fancies herself as a free-thinking bohemian artist. The two best friends are in Barcelona to spend the summer at the large house of some family friends of Vicky's. One night at dinner, the two are approached by charismatic artist Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) who immediately offers to fly them both to the small town where he lives for the weekend, where they can eat, drink, look at art and, hopefully, all sleep together. Vicky is shocked but Cristina is intrigued and agrees to come with him, with the extremely reluctant Vicky tagging along to look after her. After the events of the weekend, Vicky is left with deep reservations about her impending marriage, while Cristina quickly moves in with Juan Antonio. However things are complicated when his passionate, unconventional and unstable ex-wife, Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz), turns up. The movie is enjoyable and clever, and benefits from an attractive and talented cast and glamorous locations. It's probably Woody Allen's best film of recent years and is definitely worth watching just before a Spanish vacation.