Issue Date: February 15, 2009
"Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
An expert on the psychology of seduction picks up the truths in this award-winning romantic drama.
Penelope Cruz earned an Oscar nomination for her role in the film, out on DVD.
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The Plot
Director Woody Allen's film follows two young American women (Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson), who are seduced by a celebrated Spanish painter (Javier Bardem) while vacationing in Barcelona. Johansson soon moves in with Bardem, but the affair takes a turn when the Lothario's ex-wife (Penelope Cruz) returns and sparks further sexual fireworks.
Our Insider
Best-selling author Neil Strauss, whose 2005 book, The Game, took readers inside the secret society of pickup artists, knows the score when it comes to meeting women. In his self-help workshops and follow-up guide, "Rules of the Game," Strauss shows how any average chump can become a modern Casanova.
Overview "It's a very real look at relationships, though the seduction scenes are actually the least believable part. It shows how what most people think they want in a relationship vs. what they actually feel are two different things. We're told by our culture that we should all want a happy marriage that lasts forever, but sometimes needs go unmet, passion interferes and it gets confusing."
Don Juan wrong "Javier Bardem's seduction technique isn't how it happens. Movies like this ruined my adolescent years by making it look so simple -- a smooth guy walks up to a girl, says some charming sexual innuendo, and the girl magically falls into his bed. Whenever I tried that, I failed miserably. In my experience, being fun and interesting is far better than being smooth and debonair."
Woody being Woody "In Allen's recent films, the actors seem to be living out his fantasies; he's always showing young women with older men, and you never get why the girls are with these guys. But the film doesn't achieve greatness until halfway in, when Penelope Cruz comes onscreen. She's as vital to this movie as Johnny Depp is to "Pirates of the Caribbean." In other words, she makes a movie with much less depth come alive."
-- Jeffrey Ressner
Want to know more about the Penelope Cruz movies? Click here.
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