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Kevin Michael Vance
Writer - Portland, Oregon
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Title: Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona
Director: Woody Allen
Year: 2008
Reviewed: May 02, 2009
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Birthday Cake-Second Highest Rating |
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I DO NOT like the movie Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona. Admittedly, however, I appear to be in the minority. I have spoken with three, separate people, all of whom enjoyed the film. So, what do I know? Not much, it would appear; albeit, I still did not like this movie for reasons I will now attempt to illustrate.
I give Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona a BIRTHDAY CAKE review.
Maybe I'm not entertained or provoked watching a movie about people painting, drinking wine, living what appears to be unnaturally wealthy lives, and having sex. I know I'm certainly not entertained watching a movie about women arbitrarily lying and cheating on their husbands and fiancés, when the only point is to watch people cheat and lie. I look at relationships and commitments (of all kinds) as sacred things. Color me old fashioned, or even, narrow-minded, but the heart of this movie is not the beauty of Spain, but the dark qualities of lies and giving into base instincts, while perpetuating deceit and secrets that would boil any man's blood. Then there's the Voice Over. The technique of Voice Over has been commonly and adroitly used in movies like Memento, Blade Runner (the first version) Goodfellas, Election; just to name a few. Allen elected to have a Voice Over in his movie, but it was jarring and forced in the sense that the narrator was never indicated. He was simply a disembodied voice telling us things we really didn't need to know. I thought the writing was clever only to revel in its own cleverness. None of the characters that populate Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona resonate with any ennui or reality, they are quite obviously fictitious, but fictitious in a glaringly pretentious and patronizing manner. And I haven't even spoken about the title. My first name's Kevin, and my sister's name is Nici. Together we grew up in a small town in Montana by the name of Missoula. Nici, Kevin, Missoula -- pretty lame title if you ask me.
For me, Woody Allen's film failed miserably on many different levels, and yet I've heard Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona is one of his better films. Being, for no reason accept admitted apathy, unfamiliar with much of Woody Allen's body of work, and knowing that Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona is one of his best; it makes me leery about supporting him and his particularly skewed brand of fiction.
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