Vicky Cristina Barcelona

I am still trying to watch all the Oscar winning and nominated movies.  Vicky Cristina Barcelona won an Oscar for best supporting actress (Penelope Cruz). This movie was an odd romantic drama about a pair of friends that go to Barcelona for the summer.

Plot:  Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) go to Barcelona for the summer.  They stay with some of Vicky's family.  Vicky is there to study and finish her masters on Catalan Identity and Cristina is seemingly along for the ride.  They meet Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) who is a painter.  He invites them out to a weekend getaway the first time they meet.  Vicky is understandably cautious. But Cristina who is the impulsive one,  is intrigued with Juan especially when she learns of his passionate and violent relationship with his ex-wife.  Cristina is drawn to Juan and easily seduced until she has a bad reaction to the wine she had been drinking.  Left on their own, Vicky and Juan find themselves drawn to one another. This leaves Vicky to decide whether to follow her feelings and explore a relationship with Juan or to marry her safe and successful, yet boring boyfriend Doug.  Once back in Barcelona, things get complicated. Juan begins to date Cristina and she moves in with him.  Also, Juan's ex-wife comes back onto the scene moving in with Cristina and Juan.  Plus, Doug decides to visit Vicky in Barcelona so they can get married early.  What choice will Vicky make?  Will she marry her safe Doug or explore the wild side with Juan?  And where does Cristina fit in?  She doesn't know what she wants only what she doesn't want--could Juan be what she wants? You will have to watch this interesting film to find out.

This is an interesting little film.  The story is kind of erractic.  Following Vicky and then Cristina through their love trials and tribulations. There is also a narrator.  Usually narration gets on my nerves, but this movie kind of needed it.

I would say the acting is solid but not fantastic.  And while I like Penelope Cruz, I don't know why she got the Oscar for this role.  She plays the crazy, jealous ex-wife of Juan's who tries to kill Juan and herself multiple times in the film. 

This is an odd film that I doubt very many would find entertaining.  It dallies with love questions without giving us any answers or anything to think about. The acting is solid, but not really Oscar worthy.  Why it won an Oscar, I can't say. Unless you are a die-hard fan of the actresses or you like enigmatic films, I would avoid this one.