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Spain, United States · 2008
Rated R · 1h 36m
Director Woody Allen
Starring Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz
Genre Drama, Romance
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Two girlfriends on a summer holiday in Spain become enamored with the same painter, unaware that his ex-wife, with whom he has a tempestuous relationship, is about to re-enter the picture.
Allen has crafted a wry and thoughtful film about the peculiar stirrings of the heart that is certainly his most accomplished piece of work since 2005's "Match Point" and arguably his funniest in the eight years since "Small Time Crooks."
Allen can be literal-minded about his thematic polarities, but, in this movie, he has put actors with first-class temperament on the screen, and his writing is both crisp and ambivalent: he works everything out with a stringent thoroughness that still allows room for surprise.
New York Magazine (Vulture) by David Edelstein
Ought to have been an eye-roller. What a surprise that it's so seductive. The Woodman lives!
ReelViews by James Berardinelli
An atypical Allen film. Some of his usual themes are present - in particular, his neuroses about sex and love - but this movie does not bear enough Allen hallmarks to single it out as his work.
Charlotte Observer by Lawrence Toppman
Allen's laziness is startling, even in so mechanical a filmmaker. He uses a monotonous narrator to tell us what the characters think and do, though he then shows them performing the actions that have just been described.
Chicago Tribune by Michael Phillips
I enjoyed it as much as any Allen film of the last 20 years.
Rolling Stone by Peter Travers
Woody Allen's sexiest movie ever.
Through it all, Vicky Cristina Barcelona remains unaccountably romantic, a confirmation that love, elusive and painful as it can be, is still worth pursuing.
Philadelphia Inquirer by Steven Rea
Smoking, shouting, practically shooting off sparks, Cruz spreads a wildfire sexuality across Allen's sunny tableau of Catalan country picnics and scenic Barcelona ramblings.
Offers potent romantic fantasy elements for men and women and a cast that should produce the best commercial returns for a Woody Allen film since "Match Point."
Family is family. Blood is blood.
A new comedy
A young couple is forced to confront the idea that a life different from their own might be better.