Cinema review; Vicky Cristina Barcelona

The weather has taken a turn for the worse here in Rome. The hot, strangely humid autumn days have been traded in for a bit of real autumn; rain, more rain and miserable overcast skies. I don't mind one bit as I am a lady of leisure (until Saturday) so I decided to go to the cinema yesterday. One thing I will miss about Rome is going to see films in English. I enjoy going to the cinema, it is a relaxing pastime, especially when the film is in English. Yesterday I saw Vicky Cristina Barcelona - a Woody Allen film.

I had my hesitations as the trailer gave the impression that the film was about a Spanish Lothario who slept with every woman he meets. I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed the movie. The story is about two American girls. Vicky (Rebecca Hall) is a studious, sensible girl who has a hard working, sensible fiance. She leaves the fiance behind for two months so she can go and live in Barcelona to complete her masters on Catalan history. Two friends offer to put her up, and rather then go alone her best friend Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) joins her. Cristina is the opposite of Vicky, she lives life like it is a romance novel, always looking for something different, something fulfilling.

Within days of arriving in Barcelona they meet Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) who is a sultry, passionate artist. It is at this point the movie becomes interesting and not as predictable as I thought. Penelope Cruz comes into the story as the ex-wife of Juan Antonio and her performance is brilliant. She is Maria Elena, the fiery, talented yet somewhat crazy woman who adds an unimagined twist to the tale.

I won't say how it ends, but just that it ends well. I cannot stand films that let you down at the very last minute with an unrealistic ending. Overall a very good film and I am glad that I paid my 5 euro to see it.