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'Vicky Cristina Barcelona'

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BY RAFER GUZMÁN | rafer.guzman@newsday.com.

August 15, 2008

Another year, another minor masterpiece from writer-director Woody Allen, who's been turning out a movie or more annually since completing his heavyweight New York trilogy ("Annie Hall," " Manhattan" and "Stardust Memories") in the early 1980s. Allen once aspired to be a dramatist like Ingmar Bergman or even Henrik Ibsen, but the more time passes, the more those grand pretensions seem to fade.

In " Vicky Cristina Barcelona," Allen sets his thoughts to celluloid casually and easily, as if writing longhand in a notebook before bed. The film feels like a brief, breezy comedy, but - this is Allen, remember - there is tragedy at its core.

Our two heroines are best friends and polar opposites: Vicky (Rebecca Hall), a well-grounded brunette doing academic research in Barcelona, and Cristina ( Scarlett Johansson), an impulsive blonde along for the ride. In short order - an uncredited narrator, Christopher Evan Welch, helps the film move quickly and smoothly - these young beauties are approached by Juan Antonio ( Javier Bardem), a handsome painter who forthrightly invites them for a weekend of wine-tasting and lovemaking. Vicky, who's engaged, balks, but Cristina bites.

The three become entangled, and then become four. Juan's ex-wife, the troubled but charismatic artist Maria Elena (Penélope Cruz), shows up to make life difficult (and much more exciting). She's a familiar Allen female - highly sexed, emotionally unstable and exotic - and the comically stormy Cruz suits her to a tilde.

But Juan Antonio is the film's most intriguing character. Although he looks like a sleazy Lothario, he turns out to be respectful, kind and free of guile. He may symbolize Bohemia for two wide-eyed American girls, but Bardem imbues him with real life and an appealingly gentle spirit.

Allen explores his favorite themes: infidelity, chemistry, love and happiness. (Patricia Clarkson plays a small but important role as a dissatisfied older woman.) With his light touch and a keen eye - and they're getting lighter and keener - Allen has created a seemingly effortless but deeply meaningful film.

(PG-13)

CAST Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz.

LENGTH 1:37

PLAYING AT Area theaters.

BOTTOM LINE A seemingly effortless but deeply meaningful comedy-drama from Woody Allen, still at the top of his game.

STAR BUCKS

Take the money and run, Woody

Here are the five biggest moneymaking Woody Allen films of all time - a list that "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" may join. (Technically, the 1998 animated movie "Antz," which featured Woody's voice made the most U.S. money - but does anyone out there really think of it as a Woody Allen film?)

1. Hannahand Her Sisters (1986) - $40 million

2. Manhattan (1978) - $39 million

3. Annie Hall (1977) - $38 million

4. Match Point (2005) - $23 million

5. Love and Death (1975) - $20 million

SOURCE: boxofficemojo.com