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DVD: Vicky Cristina Barcelona (12)

Alice Jones
Friday 19 June 2009 00:01 BST
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Better than Match Point but far from the heights of Manhattan, this Spanish romance is a welcome return to form for Woody Allen.

At its heart is a complex web of desire between a brooding artist (Javier Bardem), his hysterical wife (a show-stealing Penelope Cruz) and two Americans - one straight-laced (Rebecca Hall), the other sexually and romantically incontinent (Scarlett Johansson) - on a European mission to find themselves. Discussions about life, love and the Spanish guitar abound, gallons of rioja are drunk and much paint is thrown around. All hugely enjoyable and in Hall, Allen has found the finest vehicle for his neuroses for some time. No extras: Allen doesn't like them, apparently.

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