VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA

Nominated for Best Supporting Actress (Penelope Cruz)

Directed by Woody Allen

Staring Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, and Rebecca Hall

The Plot: Vicky (Hall) and Christina (Johansson) are two hot American twenty somethings that decide to spend a summer in Barcelona. They are approached by painter Juan Antonio (Bardem) who generously offers to take them around, show them the sites, wine and dine 'em, then make love to them. They accept (who wouldn't?). Much sexiness ensues. Add Juan Antonio's ex-wife Maria Elena (Cruz) and Vicky's fiancee to the mix and you have Allen's best film in decades.

The Good:
Never has a more gorgeous cast been assembled. Set them in Spain and this film just oozes beauty. The acting is very good and Allen's script rises to their talent. It starts as a frivolous talky romantic comedy but goes into a more dramatic direction by the end.

The Bad: There's a narration over most of the film. Sometimes a good narration can add to a film. Not here. It's a stuffy narration that spouts useless tidbit about minor characters and tells us things about the stars that could easily and more effectively been told in the film itself. I kept wanting that dude to just shut it.

The Ugly:
Nothing ugly about this film. except for it's wasted opportunity for some gratuitous nudity from Johansson or Cruz!

This film is really, really good. Allen's continued fascination with Europe (his 4th European film in a row) and Scarlett (3 out of those 4 films) is really starting to click. The actions of the characters breaks with conventions of love and lust and their performances ring true, sometimes powerfully so.

MOVIE CHEETAH'S GRADE: B

Oscar Forecast:
Cruz is wonderful here in a supporting turn as Juan Antonio's suicidal/genius ex-wife. A complex character that delivers line in Spanish and English, often bouncing between the two, it's the most impressive acting in a film full of superior performances. I haven't seen any other nominated performances in this category, but Cruz needs to hope Doubt's duel nominations cancel each other out and she can eek out a win vs Marissa Tomei who may not be talented enough to be a multiple Oscar winner.

This is the Penelope Cruz's second Oscar nom, after Volver (2007).