Director: Whit Stillman
Year Released: 1994
Rating: 2.0
Whit Stillman is one of the best dialogue writers working in film today: his characters are knowledgeable, philosophical and self-righteous, but also watchable and fascinating at the same time. You can identify with them, because, after all, they've got the same problems many of us do. It's a shame, then, that this isn't a better effort, because it has so much going for it. Stillman's other films, Metropolitan and Last Days of Disco deal with similar characters: WASPy individuals stuck in a world they don't understand and over-analyze - but unlike Barcelona they never take themselves too seriously or bog themselves down in serious issues. This works best when it's not trying to be some sort of political fable or carry some social message. The two leads have great chemistry together (they worked well together in Metropolitan), but what's essentially a "buddy" movie for two acts turns into a quasi-serious film by the end, and by the conclusion, one might feel unsatisfied.
