Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Weinstein Company – 97 minutes – 2008 – PG-13 – 1080p Widescreen 1.85:1 – Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Audio

Filmmaker Woody Allen is a master at telling stories where the characters outshine their situations. He’s been doing this for nearly 40 years, and no one does it better, which is why A-list stars line up to do his small budget films, just to get a meaty role that a big studio film won’t offer them. Allen’s latest film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, is available on Blu-ray from The Weinstein Company, so if you like complex relationship dramas, this is a good one.

THE MOVIE

The set up for Vicky Cristina Barcelona starts off simple, but then get complicated. Two best friends, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson), are Americans who take a trip to spend the summer in Barcelona. Vicky is the more grounded sensible one, who is prepping to marry her fiancé; and Cristina is the insecure rebellious artist trying to find herself.

A twists is thrown into their time in Barcelona when they are approached by a Spanish painter named Juan Antonio, played with style and flair by Javier Bardem, who invites them both to come with him to Oviedo to romance and make love to both of them. Obviously Vicky thinks this offer is insulting, but Cristina being more of a free spirit convinces her to go. Thus begins a love triangle between Juan, Vicky and Cristina, that only gets crazier when his ex-wife Maria, Penelope Cruz enters the scene.

Only someone like Woody Allen could craft this film and make it work, because if it was a studio film it would have ended up being a silly paint-by-numbers romantic comedy starring Jennifer Aniston and Matthew McConaughey. Fortunately Allen knows how to stay away from that and gives his characters realistic temptations and allows them to resolve them, not with the traditional happy ending, but by showing that people must take responsibility for their own actions.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona is not perfect, and will never fall into the same category of his earlier classics, such as Annie Hall or Hannah and her Sisters, but it does demonstrate why Woody Allen is respected and big name talent will literally beg him for a role in one of his films. For those of you who are looking for something different on Blu-ray that doesn’t involve transforming robots or a psychopath wearing clown make-up chasing a guy dressed up as a bat, then Vicky Cristina Barcelona is definitely worth your attention.

VIDEO

Vicky Cristina Barcelona looks great in full 1080p set in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The backdrop of Barcelona is spectacular, looking like something you would see on the travel channel. The colors look crisp with excellent skin tones, and solid details. Much of the film is shot during daylight, which benefits the value of the Blu-ray; overall you should be pleased with the image quality.

AUDIO

With a Dolby Digital TrueHD 5.1 sound mix, the film sounds fine, but being that it’s all dialogue heavy, you probably will never notice the work that went into the mix. Dialogue is crisp and background ambience flows smooth. Basically, the sound design gets the job done without over or under doing it.

EXTRAS

This Blu-ray does not offer one single bonus feature, not even the film’s trailer. Woody Allen believes a film should speak for itself.

BOTTOM LINE

Vicky Cristina Barcelona may not exactly be the film you will run out to get at Best Buy the day it comes out, but if you’re a fan of Woody Allen’s work or you just want to see a good film where characters are the center attraction, this film is worth giving a look. There are no bells and whistles that you come to expect from Blu-ray, but you will be satisfied with the end result without all that.

SCORES (out of 5):

The Movie: 4.0

Video: 4.0

Sound: 3.0

Extras: 0.0

Bottom Line: 3.0