Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Director: Woody Allen
Screenwriter: Woody Allen
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz
Running time: 96 mins
Certificate: 12A

As with many sexual encounters, the thrill of the chase is more fun than the 'kill' itself when it comes to Woody Allen's latest effort Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Centred around an intriguing love triangle, the film tumbles into stale mediocrity once the talented cast start getting it on. Not even some highly publicised snogging between Penelope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson can prevent the eyes from gravitating away from their luscious lips and heading towards the wristwatch to check how long is left.

Plenty of chuckles punctuate the impressive first act courtesy of Allen's witty dialogue, as Americans Vicky (Rebecca Hall), a sensible and repressed type, and her free-spirited best friend Cristina (Johansson) explore Spain during a summer holiday. The contrasts in their characters are increasingly overstated, but fortunately the quick advent of Javier Bardem as seductive lothario and alleged wife-beater Juan Antonio papers over the cracks. He proposes that the two ladies, having just met them in a restaurant, head over to a remote retreat on his plane and indulge in plenty of three-way bedroom action. Thanks to Cristina's curiosity, they agree to accompany him, although the engaged Vicky insists on things being platonic.

Before long, Cristina falls ill and Juan Antonio provides Vicky with the excitement she clearly lacks in her relationship with her stale businessman fiancé. Yet Cristina is soon up and running, there's a surprise marriage, and Juan's suicidal ex from hell Maria (Cruz) enters the fray to stir things up. But, it's not quite enough to save the film from petering out to a disappointing conclusion.

In some ways, Woody Allen's script and direction sabotages itself by promising and delivering so much during the opening half hour, which moves along at breakneck speed and in crowdpleasing style. After this, the story threads are juggled when the two female leads head off on their separate ways. Once this happens, the film can't manage to sustain interest in both strands. The overly long nature of Cristina's adventures with Juan Antonio serve to lessen our interest in Vicky's journey, which falls off the radar for a sustained period. By the time she resurfaces, it's hard not to greet her with a shrug.

It's a shame that the story quickly becomes uninvolving, as the cast are uniformly superb. Bardem displays a neat comic touch, Hall is watchable as a female Woody Allen clone and Scarlett, well, outs her lips to full effect. Best of all though, is the manic, wild-eyed hysteria conveyed by Cruz as the jilted lover determined to worm her way back into Juan's life.

Some judicious editing could have cut a cracking hour-long film out of the final product, but as things stand Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a decent flick blessed with great performances and a corking set up. Beyond the initial seduction of Vicky, Cristina and the audience itself, it all falls rather limp afterwards.


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