Movie No. 15: "Vicky Christina Barcelona"

"... and God help you if you use voice-over in your work, my friends. God help you. That's flaccid, sloppy writing. Any idiot can write a voice-over narration to explain the thoughts of a character."

This line from "Adaptation" is played as a joke, given that it interrupts a voiceover by Kaufmann questioning what the heck he's doing at a writing seminar. The message is clear: Imposing one-size-fits-all rules just leads to cookie-cutter writing. And there are countless examples of narration that prove Kaufmann's point, from the hilarious ("Election") to the sublime ("The Shawshank Redemption"), adding texture and richness to the characters. Even on TV, the narration on "Pushing Daisies" adds to the show's whimsical, fairy-tale atmosphere.

Unfortunately there are times when that is not the case, when it comes across as little more than a shortcut. When I saw "Y Tu Mama Tambien" I complained that a couple of times it seemed Cuaron used narration because he didn't trust his actors to convey the emotions he was trying to portray. In the case of Woody Allen's latest film "Vicky Christina Barcelona," which includes heavy doses of rather drab, exposition-filled narration, it didn't seem as though Allen didn't trust his cast. It seemed like he didn't trust himself.

Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Christina (Scarlett Johansson) are a pair of recent college graduates spending the summer in Barcelona. As the narrator explains, they have vastly different views on love. Vicky is looking for security and consistency, believing passion will only lead to heartbreak. She's engaged to a man who's kind to her but whose sole topic of conversation seems to be things he's looking to buy. Christina is looking for violent, all-consuming passion. So it's no wonder that she is the one who convinces her friend to go when a Spanish painter (Javier Bardem) invites them for a weekend in his hometown and, if they so choose, in his bed. Both end up questioning what it is they thought they wanted out of love.

Much has been made out of the three way between Johansson, Bardem and Penelope Cruz (who plays Bardem's passionate but occasionally unhinged ex-wife). Those looking forward to the steamy scenes, though, will be disappointed, as much is told but little shown. Unfortunately for those looking for more than titillation, that's emblematic of the film as a whole. You're told that Johannson's character holds her own with the artistic circle that Bardem and Cruz's characters inhabit, but based on everything you see, I didn't really believe it. You're told that she's the key ingredient that allows them to exist in peace, but they seem more like her parents than her lovers. (Insert your Woody Allen joke here if you must)

It just seems that Allen doesn't trust himself to construct the scenes to complete his vision of the characters, so he simply had the narrator tell it to us. Say what you will about "Melinda and Melinda" (and I've said plenty myself), but it was clearly the work of a director who had a vision and was shooting for greatness. It resulted in what might be some of the worst scenes of his career, but he was certainly going for it. Too often, moment-to-moment, "Vicky Christina Barcelona" feels like it was the work of someone trying not to fail. That keeps it from being a disaster, but it also keeps it from being mentioned in the same breath as any of the truly memorable films that Allen has created during his career.

It would also perhaps help if Allen would get a new muse. His dialogue is such that making the audience believe the character would actually be saying these lines is half the battle. Diane Keaton was able to inhabit those characters completely, from the way she held herself to her gestures. Johannson tried to do that in "Scoop," but it just came off as a bad Diane Keaton impersonation. Here it seems she dispenses with the effort. It makes her performance as a whole better, showing some of the same skill she showed in "Lost in Translation" during the quiet scenes, but the dialogue once again trips her up. You just don't believe that she'd say the lines Allen wrote for her, and you think less of her character because of it.

That's not to say that this is a bad film. Bardem and Cruz give very strong performances, adding genuine artistic passion to the film. Their scenes together are probably the film's best. Even Hall, who has been getting little attention despite having perhaps the largest role, gives a very promising performance, even if she too trips over some of the more extreme Woodyisms. It's just that the film never manages to build any momentum, and the characters are never given time or space to breath and become more than archetypes.

C