Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) Rank 3 Reviews

Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus (Bryant Frazer)

Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a film with a pretty big heart, and it feels for the compromises people make in response to the looming terror that is the enormity of the rest of their lives. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus (Bryant Frazer)

HollywoodChicago.com (Adam Fendelman)

While legendary filmmaker Woody Allen can't always be equated with sheer genius and is more accurately described as a hit-or-miss proposition, this sorely undermarketed film serves as unquestionable retribution for his recently questionable work. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at HollywoodChicago.com (Adam Fendelman)

Spirituality and Practice (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)

Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona has a breezy and light-hearted feel to it that is aided by the beauty of Barcelona and the brisk narration about the American girls' European adventure. The writer and director challenges us to ponder four very ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Spirituality and Practice (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)

Bangor Daily News (Maine) (Christopher Smith)

A smart, satisfying movie. Once again, Allen removes himself from Manhattan, and finds his muse in Europe. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Bangor Daily News (Maine) (Christopher Smith)

WJFK-FM (CBS Radio) (Kevin McCarthy)

The genius behind Woody Allen is clearly seen in this film, which contains a very simple story line but it is riddled with clever dialogue and a unique narration. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at WJFK-FM (CBS Radio) (Kevin McCarthy)

EricDSnider.com (Eric D. Snider)

The film is ultimately about the many different permutations that successful relationships can have: monogamous, polygamous, polyamorous, faithful, unfaithful, kinky, and vanilla. Who's to say that one is better than the other as long as everyone ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at EricDSnider.com (Eric D. Snider)

St. Paul Pioneer Press (Chris Hewitt (St. Paul))

A romantic drama that I liked even though I had no investment in any of the characters. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at St. Paul Pioneer Press (Chris Hewitt (St. Paul))

TIME Magazine (Richard Corliss)

Vicky Cristina Barcelona is so engaging so much of the time that it feels like a modest rejuvenation: evidence that a summer in Spain can do wonders for a writer-director who may not have outlived his prime. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at TIME Magazine (Richard Corliss)

Salt Lake Tribune (Sean Means)

Who knew a Spanish accent could make Woody's familiar neurotic dialogue sound fresh? ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Salt Lake Tribune (Sean Means)

LivePDX (Kimberly Gadette)

When these lightweight lovers ramble through their individual midsummer night's dreams, knowing only what they don't want--well, we just can't care all that much. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at LivePDX (Kimberly Gadette)

Chicago Tribune (Michael Phillips)

When it's over, and the two Americans at the heart of the story depart Barcelona in overlapping states of confusion, you're left with a tinge of melancholy that feels not plot-driven, not engineered, but like a slice of reasonably complicated life. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Chicago Tribune (Michael Phillips)

Salon.com (Andrew O'Hehir)

It's literally difficult to believe that the person who made this picturesque, clueless, oddly misanthropic picture also made Annie Hall and Crimes and Misdemeanors. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Salon.com (Andrew O'Hehir)

Oregonian (Shawn Levy)

The sort of film Eric Rohmer might make if he were ever in a chipper mood: sincere, delicately funny, a little staid, a little precious, and more interested in the ebb and flow of the heart than in the dubious rewards of sensational narrative twists. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Oregonian (Shawn Levy)

Los Angeles Daily News (Glenn Whipp)

Penelope Cruz kick-starts Woody's latest, turning it into a dizzy, daffy treatise on the place of passion in art and love. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Los Angeles Daily News (Glenn Whipp)

Globe and Mail (Rick Groen)

A lightweight musing on love's infinite variety, not especially comic, and certainly not tragic, but breezing along somewhere in the meditative middle. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Globe and Mail (Rick Groen)

MTV (Kurt Loder)

The picture has a romantic glow that recalls the Woody Allen of old and, of course, it's quite funny. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at MTV (Kurt Loder)

Christian Science Monitor (Peter Rainer)

There's something intriguing going on here. It's a movie about the sacrifices that people make to be happy. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Christian Science Monitor (Peter Rainer)

Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)

He is a little like Eric Rohmer here. The actors are attractive, the city is magnificent, the love scenes don't get all sweaty, and everybody finishes the summer a little wiser and with a lifetime of memories. What more could you ask? ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)

Charlotte Observer (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. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Charlotte Observer (Lawrence Toppman)

ComingSoon.net (Edward Douglas)

Another intriguing take on affairs of the heart from the master of the artform with some solid performances, most notably from Javier Bardem and Rebecca Hall. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at ComingSoon.net (Edward Douglas)

Toronto Star (Peter Howell)

Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a comedy, a good one, and also one of Allen's best-ever meditations on the many entanglements of love. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Toronto Star (Peter Howell)

EmanuelLevy.com (Emanuel Levy)

A valentine to Spain's noted city, Allen's romantic comedy isn't very deep but it's his most entertaining and commercial work since Bullets Over Broadway, a showcase for the talents of Bardem and his three femmes, Johansson, Hall and Penelope Cruz. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at EmanuelLevy.com (Emanuel Levy)

L.A. Weekly (Scott Foundas)

Allen has crafted a wry and thoughtful film about the peculiar stirrings of the heart, which is certainly his most accomplished piece of work since Match Point, and his funniest in the eight years since Small Time Crooks. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at L.A. Weekly (Scott Foundas)

BrianOrndorf.com (Brian Orndorf)

Retains expected performance momentum, and positively sells the hell out of a lusty Spanish vacation. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at BrianOrndorf.com (Brian Orndorf)

Premiere Magazine (Eric Kohn)

The subsequent plot offers little in the way of inspiration, but plenty in the way of amusement. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Premiere Magazine (Eric Kohn)

Reeling Reviews (Robin Clifford)

The cast is terrific, from Cruz's agitated spitfire to Bardem's more introspective artist (watch the gentle way he coaxes Vicky into self realization's by questioning her answers to his questions). Hall is wonderful as the centered woman thrown off ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Reeling Reviews (Robin Clifford)

One Guy's Opinion (Frank Swietek)

Has a Mediterranean glow that gives the tale of passion and creativity a fundamentally warm quality that will surprise many viewers. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at One Guy's Opinion (Frank Swietek)

Illinois Times (Charles Koplinski)

An engaging examination of human nature. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Illinois Times (Charles Koplinski)

Las Vegas Weekly (Josh Bell)

For a romance in which nobody seems to end up getting what they want, it's deceptively satisfying, and leaves you with a sense of hope, however false. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Las Vegas Weekly (Josh Bell)

Monsters and Critics (Ron Wilkinson)

Woody Allen's latest is a pure relationship-fest, but the audience can't help but be transfixed ( a little threatened?) by Bardem's stare. A thoroughbred cast and crew makes a very watchable romantic tryst, but no classic. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Monsters and Critics (Ron Wilkinson)

ColeSmithey.com (Cole Smithey)

The movie compulsively hits fast-forward every time Woody interrupts the action with voice-over narration from an extraneous male narrator, but is nonetheless an improvement by degrees over his last film "Cassandra's Dream." ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at ColeSmithey.com (Cole Smithey)

Austin Chronicle (Kimberly Jones)

Something is terribly amiss when the American actors sound like English is their second language. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Austin Chronicle (Kimberly Jones)

Cinematical (James Rocchi)

Vicky Cristina Barcelona isn't one of Allen's finest films, but there's something warm and charming and (one might even dare say) optimistic about it, as if Allen found the change in venue as exciting and challenging as his characters do. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Cinematical (James Rocchi)

ReelViews (James Berardinelli)

There was hope in 2005 that Woody Allen had re-discovered his groove with the release of Match Point. Since then, however, he has slipped back into the sinkhole of mediocrity that kept him from greatness throughout most of the '90s and '00s. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)

Flick Filosopher (MaryAnn Johanson)

Mostly what you need to know about VCB is this: Cristina is Woody. Vicky is Mia. They have the same conversations we've heard a million times before in Allen's movies. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Flick Filosopher (MaryAnn Johanson)

Arizona Daily Star (Phil Villarreal)

A recurring sentiment is that romance is only possible in a love that hasn't been fulfilled. That may be true when you're talking about people, but not of Allen's best films, which never lose their thrill. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Arizona Daily Star (Phil Villarreal)

Groucho Reviews (Peter Canavese)

Perhaps the greatest compliment to be paid to Vicki Cristina Barcelona is that it serves as a spot-on emblem of Allen's own life philosophy: cling to the transient pleasures, as you're bound to be let down in the end. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Groucho Reviews (Peter Canavese)

FilmJerk.com (Edward Havens)

A pleasant enough diversion with some great performances and beautiful cinematography to just make it worth recommending. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at FilmJerk.com (Edward Havens)

filmcritic.com (Chris Cabin)

Vicky shows Allen deflecting his chapter-and-verse filmmaking for better and worse and, in a career that was already cemented as legendary by the early '90s, that counts for something. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at filmcritic.com (Chris Cabin)

Boxoffice Magazine (Richard Mowe)

Woody Allen can be rather hit or miss these days, but his latest excursion to Barcelona produces a winner with spicy romantic entanglements and sparkling performances. The vibrant Catalan capital appears to have energized Allen after his London sojourn. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Boxoffice Magazine (Richard Mowe)

TheMovieBoy.com (Dustin Putman)

"Vicky Cristina Barcelona" doesn't cover much fresh territory in the Woody Allen canon, and the ending, as truthful as it may be, doesn't add up to a lot in the long run. The pleasure comes, then, from spending time with well-written adult characters who ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at TheMovieBoy.com (Dustin Putman)

Creative Loafing (Matt Brunson)

The movie stumbles over itself while bringing fresh life to a number of issues. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Creative Loafing (Matt Brunson)

TV Guide's Movie Guide (Maitland McDonagh)

The best thing about Vicky Cristina Barcelona is that it acknowledges the maddening complexity of desire. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at TV Guide's Movie Guide (Maitland McDonagh)

Seacoast Newspapers (NH/Maine) (Gina Carbone)

Isn't up to Allen's old school or new school standards. But it's pretty. And it shows, again, if you let Penelope Cruz speak Spanish instead of forcing her through English, her presence will darn near suck the film right out of the camera. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Seacoast Newspapers (NH/Maine) (Gina Carbone)

Deseret News, Salt Lake City (Jeff Vice)

this is one of the more interesting things Allen has done of late. Tonally, it definitely feels more European than anything he's made â�� even more than some of his other, recent European film ventures. ...read the complete Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review at Deseret News, Salt Lake City (Jeff Vice)

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