Photo: Victor Bello/TWC 2008
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (in theaters this Friday) has a few good things going for it:
#1: Scarlett Johansson is gorgeous, and while this performance isn’t exactly her piece de resistance, she’s becoming increasingly more engaging as an actress.
#2: Penelope Cruz is gorgeous too, but tempestuous and absolutely riveting, in English or Spanish.
#3: Javier Bardem is, ahem, gorgeous (a theme?) and the idea that any man, woman, or inanimate object could reject one of his bedroom-eyed come-ons is somewhat absurd. The kicker is that it wasnt even his idea that ScarJo and PenCru would end up in bed together. And then with him.
Woody Allen’s new locale does him some good, and he salivates (in a cinematic sense) all over the gorgeous Spanish city. While I though his recent London-based movies were all dead weight, VCB is all lightness, fresh sea air, and a return to Allen-esque banter about love and sex.
Read our full coverage of the film as part of our Fall Preview at Out.com, and if that's still not inspiring enough, consider these extra quotes from Johansson:
> "I don't necessarily find inspiration for my work through the art of others. I find inspiration through people I meet and the things they struggle with."
> "I'm elated for every gay couple finally winning the right to marry in California after a seemingly endless battle. I think that in 2008, it's archaic and preposterous that all people are not created equal under the eyes of our government."
-- MATTHEW BREEN
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