Barcelona (1994)

Sadly Over-hyped

Great Film overall

As Good As It Gets

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

While Metropolitan gets a lot of the love, I just prefer Barcelona, if just because I far enjoy the two characters in the latter while the former has a group of city socialites (U.H.P.s; or, if you prefer, preppies) so caught in themselves, I care little about spending time with them or listening to them. A salesman in Barcelona agrees to let his Navy fleet cousin stay with him, and the two of them must learn to get along, all the while managing relationships with local beauties in the city. In Barcelona, the presence of anti-American sentiment causes Fred (Chris Eigeman) to openly vocalize his dislike for how the locals treat him, particularly a womanizing journalist named Ramone (Pep Munné). While Ted (Taylor Nichols) feels as if his company is turning the screws and planning to fire him for his supposed downturn in sales, he becomes enchanted by one of Ramone's many flames, Montserrat (Tushka Bergen). Meanwhile Fred himself becomes involved with a stunning beauty named Marta (Mira Sorvino, quite eyepopping), but she turns out to be a wedge between the cousins when she steals pesos while in Ted's apartment. If you are familiar with Whit Stillman, then you can recognize that his work is quite dialogue-based with long conversation set pieces as actors comment on or voice opinions and thoughts on whatever subjects are important to their characters during the films. Barcelona is similar to Metropolitan in that the characters are concerned about their status in life (where they are and where they will be headed), such as career and romance. Ted deals with a girlfriend still stuck on Ramone (who actually encouraged her to see other men!) and a job (and supposed bullying supervisor that turns out to be anyone but) that demands a lot but could ultimately leave him behind. It gets so bad for Fred--all the negative American propaganda and prejudice encouraged by Ramone's paper and rhetoric--that he eventually is shot by a motorcyclist in a taxi cab. The shooting puts the relationship of the cousins into perspective. With the city of Barcelona as quite an alluring backdrop and characters who are a bit more sympathetic (or to me anyway) than Metropolitan (the wealthy class' romantic entanglements did little to interest me, I must be honest), I really remained compelled during this Stillman film. I quite liked Ted, actually, and seen that he was sincere in his desire to have a meaningful relationship with Montserrat, and truthfully Fred, despite his dependence on his cousin's charity, isn't all that bad of a guy. I think you can clearly see that despite their opposing animosity due to a number of personality differences ultimately would never interfere with their love for one another. The hospital sequence, where Ted never gives up hope for Fred's improvement, recognizes that family is significant even if cousins get on each other's nerves from time to time. The romantic interludes and ups and downs provide plenty of exchanges (melancholy, retrospective, expressive, heated, and curious) in long dialogue sessions that might test the patience on some viewers interested in a forward-moving story. If you know of the French dramas that can be long-winded, and like them, then I think Stillman is your cup of tea.

Stillman should make more films definitely. This was a profound film that showed the remarkable decorum that Americans had to face in Barcelona in the mid-80's. Phenomenal acting by Chris and Taylor. I was also blown away by Mira Sorvino's performance - never guessed that she was an American the first time I saw this film. She's that good.Terrific locale - how can anything beat Barcelona? This is a film, like Metropolitan, that you watch over and over and never get tired of it.30 minutes goes by, an hour, and you're still never bored. You wish the film would go on and on.It's a really shame that talented directors like Stillman can't make movies while the most unbelievably shallow filmmakers continue to bring society down another notch.

An American sales representative in Spain (Taylor Nichols) gets a visit from his wacky cousin (U.S. Navy officer Chris Eigeman) and the unlikely duo falls in love with a pair of anti-American Spaniards (Tushka Bergen and the highly erotic Mira Sorvino). Woody Allen-styled script is hilarious with sharp and tight dialog, but the uneven tone starts to wear thin during the film's final act when the production takes a dementedly dramatic turn. None of the performers are really that great (Sorvino is an exception of course), but the screenplay is so smart (most of the time) that you cannot see any other performers in the key roles. Unique film that is worth a look. Not for all audiences, but still a slight success with me. 4 stars out of 5.

Whit Stillman is in solid territory when making movies about upper middle class and wealthy American WASPs. But I think he does an injustice in this movie to Barcelona, one of the most wonderful cities in the world. Naming the movie "Barcelona" is almost like it's the definitive movie on Barcelona. But the movie is about two bozos from the US who come to Barcelona and find much of it alien and hostile. This would be fine from their subjective standpoint, as it might seem that way for fish out of water, but the movie makes it seem as if people in Barcelona are objectively the way they're portrayed, which is quite silly. The "Spanish" people in the movie aren't even Spanish, the blonde girl is English, and Mira Sorvino is American of Italian descent.If you want to see a Whit Stillman movie that's better, and where he's on more familiar territory, I suggest you see something like "The Last Days of Disco".