A new rubric here at Cinema and Popcorn: "The Underrated" aims to analyse a movie, a performance or a directing/screenplay work that didn't get the award recognition it deserved by the time it was released. It will be composed by a small review and then an award analysis.
The first object of analysis of this rubric: Vicky Cristina Barcelona, an ideal movie for sunny (almost Summer) days, I watched yesterday.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
Directed by Woody Allen
The curious case of Vicky Cristina Barcelona... When Woody Allen presented us the love triangle(s) of Vicky Cristina Barcelona, I must confess I thought it was one of the sexiest movies in year, but also one of the most Woody Allen-esque movies of his filmography in years! And yet, the movie failed to get the recognition I think it deserved by the time...
The idea of ensembling Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johansson, Penélope Cruz and then fresh Rebecca Hall for a sunny Summer in the beautiful city of Barcelona sounds like a nice idea, but when you learn these 4 characters get involved in a sequence of love/unlove sequences mixed with psychiatric moves and neurotic thoughts, you can't help but think: "sounds great". In fact, the end result suprassed by initial expectation... the movie is, indeed, one of the sexiest of the 20th century.
Everything's is warm and beautiful in this movie: from the colors, to the places, to the cast... Allen sells us the almost exotic feeling of a Summer in the Spanish city. The screenplay excels in the seduction scenes, specially one where Bardem's Juan Antonio tries to convince Hall's Vicky and Johansson's Cristina to spend a weekend with him in Oviedo - that's when you get Vicky's straight vision of things, Cristina's fluidity and openess and Juan Antonio's sexual perversions and love for a life with no attachments. At some point near the middle of the movie, Cruz's Maria Elena steals the show and you can't help but fall in love for such a mad character!
There are no weak links here, with each one of the stars being great with what's given to them, but there's no way to deny Cruz is the most magnetic and dazzling here as a personification of "mad love" with sexy legs! Javier Bardem exudes "sex appeal", "sex appetite", he feels convincing and he's a "wonder to watch" as a Catalan version of a Casanova. Rebecca Hall got the "heart" and "moral" part of the movie: from a straight (and sometimes grumpy) character, her arch develops Vicky in a way she ends up defying her own morals - it's the most tricky part and Hall proves able to display the character's complexity in perfect harmony with the movie's tone. Scarlett Johansson is so fluid, so naturally sexy, with a very spontaneous comedic timing... she's like a sweet (but also salty) sauce that brings all the other 3 elements of the movie together - and you can see Allen wrote this part just for her as she embodies the female libertine character perfectly!
Allen's direction isn't showy, it doesn't emanates style or an assured hand - in fact, you feel his direction was about giving its great ensemble all the freedom in the world to use the words he has written for them... but that's also part of the "free spirit" and relaxed vibe he offers us in Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
This is a study of human relationships. It only happens it is a movie about 4 messed up Woody Allen characters...! But so delicious to watch. I would say it is one of the only 2 truly great 2000's Woody Allen movies, the other being Match Point (2005). Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a gem of the romantic-comedy sub-genre!.
AWARD RECOGNITION ANALYSIS:
- At the 81st Academy Awards, Vicky Cristina Barcelona was only nominated for Best Supporting Actress, Penélope Cruz, which she won. During the awards season, Kate Winslet (The Reader) almost swept this category's award but since she was nominated for The Reader instead of Revolutionary Road for Best Leading Actress, Cruz took advantage and won. Some claim Viola Davis (Doubt) should have won instead of Cruz, but, personally, I think Cruz was ALSO very deserving of the win. In my opinion, Vicky Cristina Barcelona should have been nominated for Best Picture (instead of The Reader) and Woody Allen should have gotten a nod for Best Original Screenplay (easily, instead of Courtney Hunt for Frozen River).
- At the Golden Globes, the movie got four (4) Golden Globe nominations: Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture (Cruz); Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical (Rebecca Hall); Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical (Javier Bardem); and Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical, which it won! Shockingly, Scarlett Johansson should have gotten a deserving Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical (which most people tought she would be more likely to get in comparison to the less known Rebecca Hall) and she would make for a more deserving nominee than Emma Thompson for Last Chance Harvey (and I love Thompson) or Frances McDormand for Burn After Reading. Woody Allen was also snubed in Best Screenplay for a Motion Picture, but I won't dare to say he would be a more deserving nominee than the actual nominees in this category that year, which were all very strong.
- As for the guilds, Vicky Cristina Barcelona got Woody Allen a WGA Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay and it got Penélope Cruz a SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role. Not bad, I'm able to live with it! Still, a SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture would be more deserving if given to Vicky Cristina Barcelona instead of Doubt (since all the four Doubt ensemble nominated actors were all nominated in the individual achievement categories). The PGA lineup was just great that year and it would be unfair to suggest one of the nominees were less deserving than VCB.
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