by Heather Lyon

Created on: March 12, 2009   Last Updated: March 13, 2009

I am now trying to watch all the films that were nominated for Oscars or who won Oscars this year (2008), but were not part of the best picture category. Vicky Cristina Barcelona won an Oscar for supporting actress (Penelope Cruz). This was an odd romantic drama about a pair of friends that go to Barcelona for the summer. While it was interesting movie, I am not sure it was good.

Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) go to Barcelona for the summer. They stay with some of Vicky's family. Vicky is there to study and finish her masters on Catalan Identity and Cristina is seemingly along for the ride. They meet Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) who is a painter. He invites them out to a weekend getaway the first time they meet. Vicky is understandably cautious. But Cristina who is the impulsive one, is intrigued with Juan especially when she learns of his passionate and violent relationship with his ex-wife. Cristina is drawn to Juan and is easily seduced until she has a bad reaction to the wine she had been drinking. Left on their own, Vicky and Juan find themselves drawn to one another. This leaves Vicky to decide whether to follow her feelings and explore a relationship with Juan or to marry her safe and successful, yet boring boyfriend Doug. Once back in Barcelona, things get complicated. Juan begins to date Cristina and she moves in with him. Also, Juan's ex-wife comes back onto the scene moving in with Cristina and Juan. Plus, Doug decides to visit Vicky in Barcelona so they can get married early. What choice will Vicky make? Will she marry her safe Doug or explore the wild side with Juan? And where does Cristina fit in? She doesn't know what she wants only what she doesn't want-could Juan be what she wants? You will have to watch this interesting film to find out.

This is an interesting little film. The story is kind of erratic. Following Vicky and then Cristina through their love trials and tribulations. There is also a narrator. Usually narration gets on my nerves, but this movie kind of needed it.

I would say the acting is solid but not fantastic. And while I like Penelope Cruz, I don't know why she got the Oscar for this role. She plays the crazy, jealous ex-wife of Juan's who tries to kill Juan and herself multiple times in the film. Rebecca Hall plays Vicky. The girl who has always played it safe. She has a safe successful boyfriend who will give her the life she wants and has planned on. She analyzes everything and every decision is weighed and measured. She has no spontaneous side. Until Juan shakes up her life. Scarlett Johansson is everything but planned. She doesn't know what she wants from life, only what she doesn't want. She is passionate and artistic. She is spontaneous, the total opposite of Vicky. Javier Bardem is Juan Antonio Gonzalo a painter who is the catalyst to our story. He is the one who invites the girls for a weekend of site-seeing, romance and perhaps sex. He is still in love with his ex-wife but just can't live with her-perhaps because she tried to kill him. He is drawn to both the girls but never really says why, besides that their beautiful. He is that enigmatic man that all girls fall in love with sometime in their life.

This is an odd film that I doubt very many would find entertaining. It dallies with love questions without giving us any answers or anything to think about. The acting is solid, but not really Oscar worthy. Why it won an Oscar, I can't say. Unless you are a die-hard fan of the actresses or you like enigmatic films, I would avoid this one.

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