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Woody Allen is at it again. The prolific filmmaker notorious for his neurosis returns to the realm of the pitfalls and perils of love and passion with his latest release, Vicky Christina Barcelona. Those familiar with Allen's work will know that his conflicts and his musings on them are rarely straightforward romantic-comedy affairs. Vicky Christina Barcelona is no exception and with it, Allen crafts a sexy, sensual meditation on the collision between love in the real world and passion in the fantasy world. Despite his history of well-publicized sexual encounters, at 72 years old, it's natural to wonder if Allen is too far removed from such a lifestyle to do the material justice; even if he did write it. The film boasts dynamite performances, exotic locales, and lush cinematography, but ultimately lacks the emotional poignancy and relevance that would raise Vicky Christina Barcelona above his recent mediocre crop like Cassandra's Dream and Scoop.

Two girlfriends, the emotionally grounded Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and the romantically flighty Christina (Scarlett Johansson), have taken the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to vacation for the summer in Barcelona, Spain. While staying with Vicky's distant relatives, Judy (Patricia Clarkson) and Mark Nash (Kevin Dunn), the two girls intend to use their getaway to fulfill personal goals: Vicky, who's to be wed in the fall to her corporate fiance, Doug (Chris Messina), wishes to study some authentic Catalan culture before she begins her graduate studies on the subject while Christina, recently separated from her boyfriend, hopes to find the next romantic exploit that will sweep her off her feet. The friends' approach to love and life are simultaneously challenged and channeled when they're approached by Spanish painter, Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), who extends to them an invitation to spend the weekend with him seeing Spanish art, drinking fine wine, and making love. All three of them. "Life is short, dull, full of pain," he says, so why not enjoy the pleasure? Though Vicky initially refuses, she is somehow convinced by Christina and the two are whisked away by plane to the city of Oviedo.

The weekend doesn't quite turn out as expected though when Christina falls ill and Vicky ends up giving into Juan Antonio's charms. She hides her escapade from everyone, including Christina, but finds herself questioning her commitment to Doug and desires for her own life when a deeply romantic relationship develops between her best friend and Juan Antonio. As if a love triangle wasn't complex enough, Juan Antonio's ex-wife, Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz) re-enters his life after a failed suicide attempt leaves her with nowhere to stay. Maria, who once stabbed Juan Antonio in a fit of rage, initially vehemently disproves of Christina's presence in her house. Slowly though, the emotional dynamic between the threesome begins to shift passionately in art and love. As things improve for Christina, who thinks she's found what she's always wanted, they seem to unravel for Vicky, who questions what it was she wanted in the first place. Have both women found their heart's desire in the same man?

The answer, as the unnecessary and annoying narrator (Christopher Evan Welch) gives us in the end, is that "they both knew what they didn't want," which, unfortunately, is about as satisfactory a conclusion as "because I said so" is a satisfactory logical reasoning. It would've been nice to have something a little more conclusive and a little less enigmatic coming from the voice that spent the duration of the film stating the obvious. Allen is to blame for this though, as he spends an hour and a half kicking up questions that he doesn't really attempt to answer. Instead, he seems like a parent just content to let the children play and stick their fingers in the light sockets if they want to. Objective, yes, but satisfying, no. Perhaps it was because he made himself a character, but in his apex of romantic excursions, Annie Hall, he at least concluded his emotional essay in a way open to interpretation: "I guess we keep goin' through it because, uh, most of us... need the eggs. " Part of the problem with Vicky Christina Barcelona is that it's too funny to be dramatic but not funny enough to be a comedy. With such a mixed tonality what conclusion do you give? To state something which can be derived as "love is fickle" seems too dismissve of the emotional roller coaster the girls went through. On the other hand, to derive a message of "your passions will destroy you" contrasts with the general light-hearted nature of the film.

Don't misunderstand; the film has plenty of redeeming qualities. Like he did with New York in Manhattan and London in Match Point, Allen does his best to compose each shot as a visual love letter to the city of Barcelona. The cinematography of Javier Aguirresarobe paints the city in the most seductive dulcet light, drawing you into balmy evenings where lovers drink wine under beautiful architecture and listen to Spanish guitar musicians. And if you're a woman, who better to be seduced by than Javier Bardem whose deep, soothing pronunciation and suave bluntness almost belies an innocence and naivety of a teenager in love. Opposite him, relatively unknown Rebecca Hall manages to express more conflict with her facial features than some actresses do with their entire bodies and Scarlett Johansson plays to her strengths as an airy seductress. It's Penelope Cruz that manages to steal show though, with an intensity and psychosis that perfectly juxtaposes and compliments her on-screen ex-hubby. Her machine gun Spanish and her English staccato are inexplicably audibly alluring, like a siren song drawing you into a woman who is artsy and sexy despite of, or perhaps because of, her craziness. Yet the powerful performances can only fill the glass halfway. With Vicky Christina Barcelona, Allen is almost there in regards to making a great film, but has to settle for just plain good. Though, for a filmmaker who's so prolific and hit-or-miss, he's probably okay with that.

Background Buzz
A round up of related content from across the web including fan blogs, podcasts, analysis, news, magazines, and more. Updated often, so check back!

-The Latino Review interviews Scarlett Johansson who apparently is no longer Woody Allen's muse.

-Collider features interviews with the suave Javier Bardem and sexy Penelope Cruz

-Woody Allen shares his thoughts on the film and his inspirations with Dark Horizons

-Download in full or in parts Vicky Christina Barcelona's beautiful Spanish guitar soundtrack

-Head to the official film website where you can become a Facebook friend or win a Barcelona travel package