If you don't have plans to see this movie, you can check the spoilers here and then come back...A so-so movie buoyed by a couple of very good performances in my opinion. Even though all the talk I've heard has been about the ladies, Javier Bardem is the center of the film, since everything centers around a bunch of shifting relationships with him as the constant. On his own, he does good stuff, projecting a mystery and charisma but also a vulnerability. He has varying degrees of chemistry with the three female leads, who are also varying degrees of good, which naturally makes for a bit of an inconsistent final product. Penelope Cruz is brilliant, showing intensity with every word and gesture, oozing passion and confidence, and most impressively playing crazy in a way that seems absolutely real; and her and Bardem seem made to play off one another. Scarlet Johansson is good in her scenes with Bardem and is striking as always, but a bit cardboard. Rebecca Hall is just pretty grating and doesn't play off anybody all that well. Stir that all together, mix in some trademark bold Woody Allen camera choices (I presume, having never seen another Woody Allen movie) and narration I personally found grating, and you come out with a movie I didn't mind seeing, but could have done fine without.
