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Home  The Christian Life Current Release Movie Review: Vicky Cristina Barcelona
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Movie Review: Vicky Cristina Barcelona |
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Saturday, 23 August 2008 |
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Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Javier Bardem, Patricia Clarkson, Penelope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall. The Weinstein Company. Comedy. Written and directed by Woody Allen. 8/15/08
FILM SYNOPSIS: In this bittersweet comedy filmed amid sumptuous locations, Vicky and Cristina are two young Americans who spend a summer in Spain and meet a flamboyant artist and his beautiful but insane ex-wife. Vicky is straitlaced and about to be married. Cristina is a sexually adventurous free spirit. The amorous artist manages to beguile each of the ladies, causing one to move in with him and his Ex, while occasionally dallying with the other.
REVIEW: I love the humor and story-complexity of many of Woody Allen’s films, as he’s one of a dying breed who avoids CGI effects and things that go boom in order to entertain. He almost always tells an intricate story and relies on a comedy of manners rather than the exploitation of bodily functions to get laughs. And in this production Mr. Allen brings together three absolutely stunning screen actresses, Ms. Johansson and Ms. Cruz being creations I think the Lord took extra time in constructing. And, oh how I love to see a summer film release without having to suffer through the angst of a superhero or the travels of the citizens of Gotham City. But before you all rush to the conclusion that this is an endorsement, there are elements of Woody Allen’s work that give pause.
Woody has been known to address morality and even the existence of God (Crimes and Misdemeanors), but all too often he uses these subjects as mere comic fodder (okay, nearly all the rest). This bawdy bedroom farce doesn’t so much touch on morality as it does point out man’s (and woman’s) folly. Any serious examination of the relationship between male and female is minimized by the film’s titillating sexuality. Here Woody has an amoral artist convincing a young woman to share his home with another woman – and soon his bed. While the bespectacled auteur is making fun of unrestricted sexual mores (I think that’s what he’s doing), he also handles the theme like a smarmy fantasy.
Added to the film’s omnipresent sexuality, there’s a turning of the back to God. You’d think an artist who sculpts or paints would be in tune with the plausibility of a Creator, but too often the artiste thinks he and his ilk are the gods of creation. That’s the case with Woody’s male lead, a man unimpressed with the spirituality of religious art, preferring his own myopic vision of life and death.
I don’t expect many films to focus on God, but they lose me when the main characters are allowed to deny His existence, with no one challenging that conclusion. There is a moral, of sorts, as the final shot indicates that the thirst to satisfy self is unquenchable. But the satiric barbs and the life lesson are so blunted by the visual enticements of sin and wrongdoing that all else is lost.
PG-13 (four or five obscenities, mostly the s-word; two profane uses of God’s name, and Christ’s name is used twice as a frustrated exclamation - with little reverence for Him or those who believe that Jesus is the Savior; the expression “oh my God” is used a couple of times, which I wouldn’t mind if I thought that the characters or those playing them actually believed that He was; a woman shoots a gun at her lover and his new paramour; the film is a sex farce, with an air of sexuality throughout; though the scenes don’t become overly graphic, there are several of them; we see a man and woman in bed; then a man and two women in bed; the two female leads are seen kissing; a woman commits adultery, while telling another that she should do the same in order to be happy; same sex is part of the life experience – so say the free thinking characters; drinking throughout – man, these folks are like Hemingway’s lost generation). Running Time: 96 min. Intended Audience: Older teens and above
DVD Alternatives:
Enchanted April. A delightful fable about four women in 1920s London escaping inattentive husbands and repressed lifestyles by renting a castle in Portofino. They soon discover the estate has a magical effect on all those who stay there.
Witty dialogue, dreamy cinematography, and savory performances from Joan Plowright, Polly Walker and the rest of the cast.
I.Q. Walter Matthau, Meg Ryan, Tim Robbins. Romantic comedy. PG (one scene features sexual double entendre and there are two mild expletives, but I caught no sexual situations, violence, or obscene language). Albert Einstein has fun putting aside his physics to play Cupid for his pedantic niece and the local good guy/car mechanic. Romantic, literate and downright funny.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Shakespeare’s language is the personification of dramatic poetry. The finest example of his use of verbalization can be found in “Romeo and Juliet.” But the comic and bawdy “Midsummer…” is a close second.
The Philadelphia Story. Classic comedy about bride-to-be socialite. Complicating matters – a reporter immediately falls in love with her and the first husband wants her back. Scintillating dialogue and amusing performances by Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and James Stewart.
For other free reviews from Phil Boatwright’s perspective, go to: previewonline.org.
(Disclaimer: These are the views of the author and not necessarily the staff of JesusJournal. Given the synopsis and content, concerned parents and moviegoers can decide if the new releases are suitable for viewing.)
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Words To Live By
"And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it." - The Bible: Isaiah 35:8-9
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