After the ill-conceived Cassandra's Dream, Woody Allen rediscovers his sense of humour with this warm, witty and surprisingly sexy comedy. A narrator recounts the misadventures of young American women Vicky (British actress Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) during a summer visit to Barcelona. The two friends immediately catch the eye of painter Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), whose brazen proposition elicits very different responses from the footloose Cristina and the soon-to-be-wed Vicky. Couplings and conflicts of loyalty unfold against a backdrop of picturesque Catalan locations, with the return of Juan Antonio's fiery ex-wife (Penélope Cruz) leading to further upheavals. Allen is certainly not breaking new ground in depicting the culture clash between uptight Americans and hedonistic Europeans, but he largely steers clear of crude stereotypes, with Bardem both seductive and sympathetic without being overly macho. And while Allen fans will no doubt detect some of his familiar neuroses in Vicky's agonised musings over her love life, Hall still makes her character likeable (and nails the accent). But it's Cruz who makes the biggest dramatic and comic impact, in a series of spectacularly dysfunctional scenes with Bardem. This is a timely reminder that Allen can operate effectively outside the comfort zone of his native Manhattan.

Two girlfriends on a summer holiday in Spain become enamored with the same painter, unaware that his ex-wife, with whom he has a tempestuous relationship, is about to re-enter the picture.