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By viewing the poster of this film, you might get the impression that it 's a chick flick but when you watch it, it isn't one at all. This film has that taste that makes it like a romantic comedy in which it has but has a slight piece of drama and tension involved between the characters. Vicky Cristina Barcelona was a humourous film but I wouldn't call it an ultimate laugh-out-loud hilarious comedy. It seems more of a black comedy to me which is why I find it to be quite a dark comedy because there is a man who loves three different women at the same time. I wouldn't call it one of the best films of 2008 nor the best comedy but it is the best romantic-comedy of 2008. Vicky Cristina Barcelona is an enjoyable film but what disappointed me a bit was that Penélope Cruz wasn't in it as much as I thought she would be.
These past two years have been very different for Javier Bardem. He portrayed a cold-hearted, murdering monster in an Oscar winning performance in Coen's No Country For Old Men and then playing a man with mixed tastes for women. We see Bardem behave like he would with his real friends and family regarding his Spanish accent and speaking lots of Spanish. His acting wasn't Oscar worthy but it was a very enjoyable performance with a really interesting character. This film does have an absolutely awesome cast. As much as I love Scarlett Johansson and her films, I would call her performance as Cristina a slightly flawed one because Cristina was in love with Juan Antonio Gonzalo and I couldn't really understand her feelings but the one thing I must say is that she was HOT as always. Rebecca Hall was better as Vicky. Vicky travelled to Barcelona with her friend Cristina where they both meet Juan Antonio Gonzalo. Hall's performance was better than Scarlett Johansson's. Penélope Cruz was amazing as Maria Elena because she made her character very dangerous, selfish,, an ultimate bitch, irresistible and a slightly kind caring woman. Cruz worked hard when portraying Maria because of using a lot of Spanish with Javier Bardem in front of their American/British co-stars.
Woody Allen is a really good director for making romantic comedies and that is something not many directors are good at. He makes this film seem like a chick flick but it isn't at all as I said. Allen has created Oscar winning films such as Annie Hall but films like Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Match Point are films that are just really entertaining. The way this film was written was very original with a lot of special moments between the characters and the absolutely beautiful sceneries of the buildings, inside the houses, the markets etc.
This film won and was nominated for 1 Oscar: Best Supporting Actress (Penélope Cruz) beating Amy Adams, Viola Davis, Taraji P. Henson and Marisa Tomei. It won 1 Golden Globe out of 4 nominations. It won Best Picture Musical/Comedy beating Burn After Reading, Happy-Go-Lucky, In Bruges and Mamma Mia!. It was nominated for Best Actor Musical/Comedy (Javier Bardem) but lost to Colin Farrell in In Bruges, Best Actress Musical/Comedy (Rebecca Hall) but lost to Sally Hawkins in Happy-Go-Lucky and Best Supporting Actress (Penélope Cruz) but lost to Kate Winslet in The Reader.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona isn't one of the best films of 2008 but it is a very enjoyable film nothing more. Cruz's performance is amazing and very much deserved the Oscar award. It is the most disappointing Scarlett Johansson performance so far. Woody Allen's least best film so far after Match Point and Annie Hall. It is a really good film that I could only watch once just like maybe some other people could.
6/10
