Lots of fun ... and some wonderfully funny moments as everyone tries to figure out who they are, what they want, what they don't want, shall I or shall I not?
An outstanding cast doing a lot of terrific ad libbing, or at least that's the feel it has - not the polish of a script, but actors genuinely feeling their way through their character and the entanglements of love and life.
Where to begin ...
Rebecca Hall (Vicky), a young lady on a summer lark before marriage - cool and calculating, knowing exactly what she wants - a settled, sensible, husband, and a fine home north of New York City. Innocent and wide-eyed, yet capable of passion and dreams. But where can it go?
Scarlett Johansson - can she get any more beautiful? - (Christina), who joins her friend for a summer romp. She knows what she doesn't want, but what she might want, it's anyone's guess.
Jarvier Bardem (the artist, Juan Antonio) - who, upon seeing these two lovelies immediately begins to seduce them - coming right to the point: "Join me this weekend to make love."
"But we don't know you."
"Well, life is short."
Bardem, wonderfully, ruggedly, handsome, is terrific ... a subtle passion - the son of poet, an artist of renown ... who loves easily.
Vicky, the reluctant one, agrees when Christina decides it would be fun.
Juan Antonio, recently divorced from a fiery wife who knifed him toward the end, is trying to put his life back together again.
His ex-wife, fiery, creative, slightly crazy, wonderfully portrayed by Penelope Cruz (Maria Elena), is at loose ends without him, but neither of them can make it work. After a suicide attempt, Juan takes Maria into his home (with Christina) because she has no money, and nowhere to go.
In the menage a trois that evolves between Christina, Juan and Maria, Christina is the missing piece. Her love for them, and their love for her, enables Maria and Juan to love once again. But all good things must come to an end: Christiana knows what she doesn't want, and she doesn't want this, so off she goes, and with her departure, so goes Juan and Maria.
Vicky, who had a quick fling with Juan on the weekend, is soon to be married, and sooner than expected; her fiance arranges some time off from work and flies to Spain to meet Vicky and get married there, rather than waiting for fall. Oh well ... but the alure of Juan and his attraction to her is powerful. Where shall it go?
Vicky and Christina stay with Vicky's distant relatives: Patricia Clarkston and Kevin Dunn (Mr. and Mrs. Nash), who are "happily" married and enjoying life. Mrs. Marsh has her own challenges, being caught in a kiss with her husband's business partner. She, too, is looking for something.
It's a delightful tale, a snapshot of life for a few months ... with no real resolution of any one's situation. A typical Woody Allen approach - lots of questions, few answers, give it a whirl and see what happens. There's pain and there's joy, and who can sort it out? Some folks never quite find whatever it is they're looking for, and keep on looking. Some settle for what they have and make the best of it. Some relationships never seem to work no matter how much love, and some, devoid of love, still work. Who knows?
I thoroughly enjoyed how the story unfolded, with a good many chuckles at the expense of the characters. All of them wonderfully portrayed by gifted actors - conveying bewilderment, sadness and passion, love longed for and love regretted.
A must-see film ... hats off to Woody Allen who wrote and directed this delightful work.
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