"B" Rating by Robert W. Hammerle

Having watched the previews several times for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," I was struck with how times have changed for Woody Allen. While there was a period when I, like many others, awaited the arrival of a new Woody Allen film with an undeniable feeling of unabashed glee, the sad fact is that Woody Allen's name was never mentioned in the promos for "Barcelona." Clearly, other than in New York, his name has become such box office poison that he dare not mention it in advertisements to the movie world.

This is a dramatic, yet real, admission by Mr. Allen himself of the fact that he has largely lost any semblance of relevance to movie audiences as a whole. How horrible it must be for an artist to be forced to hide responsibility for his own artistic creation. It is almost as if he is now required to blacklist himself.

Having said that, and accepting its obvious flaws, there is a lot to praise in Mr. Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." Quirky and erotically charged, Mr. Allen has clearly benefited from his decision to leave his beloved New York and start filming on location in Europe.

As he did with the critically acclaimed "Match Point" (2005), Mr. Allen again explores the interrelationship of human sexuality, society's moral code relating thereto and the consequences flowing from challenging those generally accepted norms. In "Match Point," Jonathan Rhys Meyers paid a horrible price as a married man who belatedly discovered that his lustful mistress was half psychotic. In "Barcelona," tables are somewhat turned as two young female American tourists become involved in an affair with a Spanish painter, only to learn that his alluring, half mad ex-wife is included with the price of the ticket.

Once again, Scarlett Johansson plays a central role in an Allen film. With a face and body that could, like Helen of Troy, sink a thousand ships, she has become as central to Allen's films in the 21st Century as Diane Keaton was in the 1970's and 80's. Just as Alfred Hitchcock's obvious attraction for the gorgeous Grace Kelly played out in a series of films where he vicariously allowed the camera to make love to her, ["Rear Window" (1954) and "To Catch a Thief" (1955)], it is quite evident that Woody is doing the same with Ms. Johansson.

In "Barcelona," Ms. Johansson and her travel companion, the equally attractive Rebecca Hall, are propositioned by a Picasso-like painter played by the impossibly handsome Javier Bardem. In a scene that reflects the fantasy of Mr. Allen (and most men), Bardem approaches the two young women in a restaurant, introduces himself, and then asks them to join him on a weekend trip to a Villa in Spain. When Bardem further advises the two young women that they will spend the weekend drinking fine wine, eating good food and making love together, they eventually agree to go with some reluctance by Ms. Hall and nothing but eager acceptance by Ms. Johansson.

What follows is a Woody Allen morality tale that could have been appropriately set to the music of Jimmy Buffett's classic song, "Let's Get Drunk and Screw." Despite her engagement, Hall has a quick roll in the hay with Bardem, only to immediately be racked with guilt while she simultaneously can't get the moment out of her head. Johansson has no such problem. All she asks of Bardem is that he make a reasonably sincere attempt to seduce her.

The two female friends could not be more different, and through them Allen makes his not so subtle comment about contemporary mores. Hall is viewed by Allen as an uptight American about to marry a businessman that will lead to a conventional life in an emotional wasteland of passionless boredom. This theme is further played out by the role of the always-credible Patricia Clarkson, who plays an older woman living in a marriage that long ago saw love transformed into simple comfort.

Johansson, on the other hand, is exploring life in all its glorious permutations. By her own definition, she doesn't know what she wants out of life, only what she doesn't want. As a result, she is eager to participate in a relationship with the alluring Bardem where they do what they want as long as it is honest and respectful.

But Johansson's relationship with Bardem is turned on its head with the arrival of his tempestuous, homicidal ex-wife, played with delicious flare by Penelope Cruz. She is passionate, bisexual, and uninhibited by any standard societal norms. While Johansson initially embraces the three-way relationship as part of her experiment with life, you know it can only last so long before Ms. Cruz literally blows up.

Bardem and Cruz are sensational. It cannot be denied that he has a sexual presence that causes otherwise stable adult women to swoon. Playing a talented painter only adds to his sensual allure, and our two young tourists don't pretend for long to resist his obvious charms.

Ms. Cruz is simply commanding as a woman alternating between passionately loving Mr. Bardem and then wanting to put a bullet in his head. Her emotional volcanic explosiveness is a treasure to behold.

Quite frankly, I have always found it a little difficult to try and review a Woody Allen film, particularly since that classic scene in "Annie Hall" (1977) where Allen was standing in a line at a movie theater listening to a pompous patron droan on with his critique of Marshall McLuhan. Utterly disgusted, Allen leaves the line only to return with Mr. McLuhan himself who proceeds to verbally demolishes his blowhard critic faster than butter melts in one hundred degree heat!

However, risking that same end, it is clear that "Barcelona" is Mr. Allen's metaphorical criticism of an American society that so unfairly (in his eyes) criticized his marriage to his stepdaughter. Obviously relishing the sexual freedom of Europe as opposed to the United States, in "Barcelona" he is finding a great deal to fault concerning America's puritanical approach to sex.

While it can't be denied that Allen has a point, it also can't be denied that anyone would probably be in for a bit of criticism in any society when you decide to marry your stepdaughter. In that sense, Woody's portrayal of marriage in America as a deadening emotional partnership involving little more than loyalty and commitment is a bit self pitying and parochial.

Though "Barcelona" is seriously marred by the commentary of a rather pompous narrator, it does succeed in a rather unique category of a serious romantic farce. Ms. Cruz's character is described as finding only unfulfilled love to be truly romantic. There is a bit universal wisdom in that thought, don't you think?