Vicky Christina Barcelona

WOODY Allen returns to his roots to explore the wonderful chaos of love in Vicky Christina Barcelona.
Beautiful people and stunning locations offer as much of a visual treat as food for thought in this light-hearted but insightful comedy.
Two friends, free-spirited Christina (Scarlett Johansson) and soon-to-wed Vicky (Rebecca Hall), are holidaying in Spain when they are offered somewhat of an indecent proposal by smove talking painter Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem, last seen in a very different role in No Country For Old Men).
He promises to sweep them off their feet with sight seeing, good food, expensive wine and passionate love-making.

To watch the girls’ polar opposite responses is a delight to watch and says a lot about how we each respond to a stranger’s advances.
Christina considers him attractive, mysterious and exciting while Vicky thinks he is sleazy and potentially dangerous.
It’s as if the mechanisms of someone’s conscience are being played out as a conversation.
The situation is only complicated further when Juan Antonio’s fiery ex Maria (Penélope Cruz) returns to the scene.
At this stage, Allen explores the idea that romance dies when relationships strengthen as romance relies on the disbalance between two people while long-term relationships restore that balance.
Its a fascinating idea that is explored to the full in the film.
Barcelona may be new for the veteran director in terms of setting but the dialogue makes it instantly recognisable as one of Allen’s works, reminiscent of his earlier films like Annie Hall.
It goes to show that if directors return to their roots, good things can happen.
George Lucas should take note.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

MORTALITY’S a funny thing.
Most people spend years trying to forget how fallible they are...but it always catches up with you, whenever someone you care about is ill, whenever someone dies.
For a whimsical Tim Burton-esque story about a man who ages backwards, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button really hits this point home.
In an inititially heartwarming – but then heartbreaking – tale, the overriding theme here is that nothing ever lasts.
Prepare to see Brad Pitt as you’ve never seen him before. Based on the 1920s F.Scott Fitzgerald book, Benjamin Button (Pitt) is born as a man in his 80s ‘with one foot in the grave’.
Unwanted and rejected, he ends up living in a retirement home and gets used to death from an early age. But he also finds acceptance and love.

While he may look like the other residents living out their silver years talking about the weather, Benjamin has the natural curiosity of a young child. It’s so bizarre but it really draws you in and whatever age he is, incredibly, the character looks unmistakably like Brad Pitt.
Over the years, you see the episodes of his life as he gets younger, experiencing things in a unique way and meeting fantastic people. He then meets the love of his life Daisy (Cate Blanchett) and they find happiness when their lives cross and they are both in their 40s.
You can probably guess the outcome of this relationship but it will still pull on your heart strings.
This is a very different type of film for filmmaker David Fincher, who normally directs darker thrillers like Seven and Fight Club, but it suits him well.
No film has examined pain, regret and loss more succinctly in quite some time.

Revolutionary Road

THE agony of heartbreak and separation is transferred seamlessly to the silver screen here.
No light relief, no escapism, just two hours of a bitter relationship gone drastically wrong.
But if you can stand the tension, you’ll find a really engaging film here with great performances from the leads Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.
Reunited on screen for the first time since Titantic in 1997, the pair are electric. It makes you wonder why they weren’t brought together again sooner.
In fact, the film is almost as if Titanic’s Jack and Rose both survived the ill-fated voyage and 10 years later, their marriage is failing.

With Sam Mendes’ Revolutionary Road, you don’t really see why Frank (DiCaprio) and April (Winslet) are drifting apart, you just see the twisted aftermath.
There is also a wonderful, humourous, transparency to the story as the mentally ill character John Givings (brilliantly portrayed by Michael Shannon) continues to say what everyone else is thinking.
Kate Winslet is incredible here, chain smoking and always looking on the verge of a breakdown, while DiCaprio’s character Frank tries to ride the wave of the post-war optimism of his 1950s America.
Both feel caged by domestic life and want to make a change by living in Paris...but the real message here is that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
Obviously the strength of a film like this is that we can all relate to it. There are only a few of us who can claim to have had flawless relationships and we all know the impact when they go wrong.