From my favorite movies..

Don't listen to the negative reviews

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Ted, a stuffy white guy from Illinois working in sales for the Barcelona office of a US corporation, is paid an unexpected visit by his somewhat less stuffy cousin Fred, who is an officer in the US Navy. Over the next few months, both their lives are irrevocably altered by the events which follow Fred's arrival, events which are the trivial stuff of a comedy of manners at first but which gradually grow increasingly dramatic.I am not familiar with films directed by Whit Stillman, but going through my list of things to see, I am sure he will pop up a bit. Barcelona, his first studio-financed film, was inspired by his own experiences in Spain during the early 1980s. Stillman has described the film as "An Officer and a Gentleman", but with the title referring to two men rather than one. The men, Ted and Fred, experience the awkwardness of being in love in a foreign country culturally and politically opposed to their own.Studio-financed or not, this has the feel of a 1990s indie film. Very much in the vein of Richard Linklater and early Kevin Smith. He seems to have come up at about that same time when overly-talky scripts were the rage, sort of taking the Jim Jarmusch backbone and fleshing it out with witty dialogue. I mean this as a compliment, because I really enjoy this sort of film, but they also seem to blend together... maybe after I see a few more, I will recognize what makes a "Stillman film".

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.

I currently live and work in Barcelona and thought this would be a really interesting movie. Boy, was I wrong! Terrible acting, poor plot, and long. Fortunately, someone gave me the DVD to watch so I did not spend any money! I am appalled that Mira Sorvino would do this movie, but I guess it was before she hit "big time". Hey, in case people do not know--Catalan is spoken in Barcelona more than Spanish (or English). You'd never know it from the movie--everyone speaks English! I am going to watch Gaudi Day next, another movie set in Barcelona. Till then, I am going to pass this one out to my friends who are into the Marquis De Sade!

All I have to say is- this is definitely one of my favorite movies. I happen to be big fan of Whit Stillman, and this is probably his best movie. The only thing to mention would be that particularly leftist individuals may find the movie offensive.