About.com Rating

• Winner, 2009 Golden Globe Award - Best Picture, Comedy or Musical
• Winner, 2009 Academy Award - Best Supporting Actress, Penelope Cruz

A Return to Form

For his first few movies, Woody Allen's roots as a stand-up comic and joke writer came through in every frame; there was nothing his early works (films like Bananas and Sleeper) wouldn't do for a laugh. Then Annie Hall made Allen legit, and he discovered the rewards of exploring drama.

For the most part, Woody never looked back. Though he would make the occasional stab at full-on comedy in future years, the results usually looked something like Small Time Crooks.

Allen's 39th (39th!) theatrical feature, 2008's Vicky Cristina Barcelona, is possibly the closest he's come to mixing comedy and romance, sadness and drama since Annie Hall and Manhattan back in the '70s. Vicky isn't quite on par with those two films, but it's certainly a return to form of sorts.

He Loves, She Loves, They Love

The movie stars Rebecca Hall as Vicky and Scarlett Johansson as Cristina, two American friends on holiday in -- you guessed it -- Barcelona. There, they meet Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), a handsome and charming artist who each falls for in their own ways. Vicky, conservative and engaged, fights her feelings, while flakier, would-be Bohemian Cristina enters into a whirlwind affair. Complications arise when Juan Antonio's fiery, self-destructive ex (Oscar winnerPenelope Cruz) comes back into the picture and begins to raise hell.

A Flawless Cast

Though typically constrained to the confines of his beloved New York City, Vicky Cristina marks Allen's fourth straight film set in Europe (his previous three took place in England), and the change of scenery suits him. New locations and new atmosphere have re-energized the writer/director, who seems to be discovering and falling in love with Barcelona right along with the viewer. It's the perfect city for a story about getting swept up in reckless love, creating a fantasy alternative to the realities of the U.S.

Where Allen has always excelled, though, is in directing actors; there's a reason he's directed more actors to Academy Awards than any other director. The four-person ensemble in Vicky Cristina does some of their best work. The perfectly-cast Bardem demonstrates he's got the chops as a romantic leading man; Johansson, who floundered under Allen in Scoop, brings just the right notes of sensuality and insecurity; Penelope Cruz is feisty and fragile and totally deserving of her Oscar nomination. Overlooked by the Academy (as far as I'm concerned) is Rebecca Hall, who gives the film's best performance as the controlled, confused Vicky. She's one of the strongest characters Allen's written in years: charming, neurotic, intelligent and unaware of her own sexiness, all beautifully acted by Hall. Hers is one of the finest female performances of 2008.

Growing Up

Yes, Vicky Cristina Barcelona technically qualifies as a comedy, and, in fact, was awarded the Golden Globe Award for Best Comedy or Musical. But awards do not define a film, and Vicky Cristina is much more than a comedy. Unlike Allen's early work, it never goes for hard laughs. It observes behavior. We smile because we recognize our own imperfections in these characters, who are all looking for love and happiness but don't know where the right places in which to find them. The heart still wants what the heart wants, but by 2008 Woody Allen has grown up enough to start letting his head get in the way.

DVD Details

• Release Date: January 27, 2009
• Running Time: 97 minutes
• 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
• Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (English)
• English Subtitles
• Spanish Subtitles