Rating: 
Summary: Charming and Witty, A Very Fine Film
Review: Another classic from the musings of Whit Stillman, Barcelona delivers thought-provoking messages and insights through dialogue without being preachy (Kevin Smith) or whiny (Woody Allen). Though I do not have anything against the latter two, I prefer the tone that Mr. Stillman sets in his films. His characters share their observations in a casual, laid-back way, the way something might be said in real life. Stillman's approach in his films is generally that of lightweight comedy with somewhat serious undertones. Because of his well-planned method in delivery, Barcelona is one of the better talkative Nineties movies. Highly recommended for its very witty yet realistic dialogue and great characters, not to mention the lovable actors.
Rating: 
Summary: Captures the experience perfectly
Review: As an American who's lived on and off in Spain over the years, I can say the movie captures the cultural differences exactly! Spaniards and Americans are both similar and polar opposites at the same time, and the clash makes for a hilarious introspection into who and what we really are. Spend time in Spain and you will run into each one of these characters. Truely one of my favorite movies!
Rating:
Summary: Whit Stillman shines again
Review: Barcelona is much like Stillman's previous film, Metropolitan, but with cool. And more beautiful women. Having seen this film and being a Stillman fan after watching Metropolitan, going to Barcelona was something I had to do. I can say first-hand that Stillman got it right. The women are indeed gorgeous, hamburgers are not quite right, disco's still in swing and women do that dance which I forget the name of. But if you don't get the chance to ever go to Barcelona (in my mind probably the most underrated city in Europe), at least see this film and get transported to sunny Spain with all the style and smarts Stillman delivers.
Rating:
Summary: LOTS OF "SUB-TEXTS"
Review: Barcelona is not really a comedy, but the dialouge sounds similar to Woody Allen anyway. Its sorta of nuerosis comedy/political drama/growing up film. What makes it special though is the two leads whom I've never seen before. Ted is a romantic who talks like he's reading from a romantic novel, while Fred is light hearted on the romantic front but enourmously sensitive when it comes to anti-Americanisms by the locals. Its funny that Ted and Fred are as ignorant about the local women as the locals are of America. The US OF A has always been an easy target for critisism abroad for its meddling, some are true and some aren't. That the film manages to include such politics and remain relatively light hearted and free of anger is quite an achievement.Although a development near the end threatens to indulge in melodrama, Stillman stil manages to make it real and even funny. However, to counter all the negativity about Americans the film sometimes (seems) to stereotype Spanish women as promiscious/cold/leftists as personified by MARTA(Mira Sorvino). I say "seems" becuase I've only been to Spain once and never to Barcelona, if its true however, then that is definitly the place to go next summer.
Rating:
Summary: Clever Stillman comedy
Review: Hard to describe what makes Barcelona so endearing. Part of it is that Stillman's characters seem a little more realistic, as if drawn from life. There's no sense of contrivance, and there is a grace to his stories that puts them very much in the vein of Jane Austen--witty, mild, and perceptive, but also forgiving in their detached appraisals. Best matched with Metropolitan, and something of a strange quasi-sequel (I tend to discount The Last Days of Disco, which is good but too splintered).
Rating:
Summary: Another Great Whit Stillman Picture
Review: Here's a great offering from Whit Stillman, saw it the other night and quite enjoyed it. It is viewed not so much as a film, but rather as a snapshop of the characters' lives. The dialogue seems more like the normal conversations spoken by ordinary folks, than merely words read from a script. The plot of the film involves a Naval officer and his cousin, and the problems that they as Americans deal with in Barcelona, Spain towards the end of the Cold War. There are unfaithful women that the cousins become involved with, as well as irritating journalists bent on smearing America at every chance. The humorous banter that is traded by the two cousins is certainly an amusing sight (or is it sound?). Anyway, this film is great. Hopefully it'll be released on DVD at some point, but until then we'll have to settle for VHS. If you enjoyed The Last Days of Disco, then Barcelona is certainly for you.
Rating:
Summary: Barcelona!
Review: I believe this is Whit Stillman's finest, of the three films he's done so far.Starring Taylor Nichols, Chris Eigeman, Mira Sorvino, Tushka Bergen, Thomas Gibson, etc., 'Barcelona' is a neurotic quirky romantic comedy, but with some fairly clever subtextual undertones. One of my favorite lines among many is, "...it's one of the few white color jobs where you must control the elements in the four dimensions or it gets very wet." Highly recommended; multiple viewings will reveal more of just how good this movie really is.
Rating: 
Summary: Surprised at how much I liked "Last Days of Disco"...
Review: I decided to take a look at another movie by writer-director Whit Stillman. This is typical of me; once I stumble upon a director I like I want to see EVERYTHING he or she has done. I really buy into that whole, French "auteur" theory that the director is the single dominant creative force behind a film and that good directors have a style or "vision" that marks all their work. "Barcelona" is a movie Stillman made prior to "Disco". It takes place (as you've probably guessed) in that beautiful Spanish city in the early 1980's. It's about a young American businessman, Ted (Taylor Nichols) and his visiting cousin Fred (Chris Eigeman, who could also be seen in "Disco"). Fred's an advance man for the Navy's Sixth Fleet, assigned to ensure that the fleet's arrival goes smoothly. That may not prove so easy because there's a lot of anti-American sentiment in the city, as Fred himself finds out when he's called a "fascist" early on. The two also spot some graffiti ("Yankee pigs go home") and the film's opening image is of an American library being bombed. But "Barcelona" isn't really about politics; like "Last Days of Disco" it's really more interested in the casual observations and social relationships of its characters. Take, for instance, Ted's idea that you're better off going out with only plain, "or even rather homely" girls. "This inordinate concern for physical beauty has wrecked more live," he tells Fred. Fred doesn't buy it. What if the ONE girl you REALLY can be happy with also happens to be incredibly attractive, he asks. Obviously we're not talking about hard and fast rules. Part of the film's charm is how the characters make these rules, only to break them later. At one point Ted resolves not to sleep with any girl until he finds the one he wants to marry. But a few scenes later he's sleeping with beautiful Montserat (Tushka Bergen) and he sort of warms to her notion that physical beauty "is the closest thing to divinity that remains in the modern world." It is very powerful, he agrees. "Barcelona" is filled with smart and funny dialog like that. I can't say I liked it as much as "Last Days of Disco", but it made me smile.
Rating:
Summary: Humorous and Intelligent
Review: I don't know what Whit Stillman is doing these days, but I sure wish he would get back to film-making. His last feature, "The Last Days of Disco," was probably his most accessible and mainstream and I thought he would soon reappear with yet another film, but he seems to have disappeared off the landscape. For my money, of the three films he has made, "Barcelona" is his best. Stillman probably never will be a huge box office success in any of his endeavours. He is almost an acquired taste. His movies are dialogue driven and if you don't have an ear for dialogue, they may seem boring. But his dialogue is crisp and original and moves the story along. He forces you to listen if you want to enjoy the film and apparently a lot of people don't want to have to pay close attention in order to understand what is going on. The plot? Taylor Nichols is an American living in Barcelona and working for a stateside company. He is visited by his pain-in-the-butt cousin, Chris Eigeman, a naval officer who's in Barcelona to prepare for the arrival of the U.S. fleet during a time of very anti-American attitudes. The cousins are constantly at odds, as they have been since early childhood, arguing about anything and everything, including politics, women, and their strained relationships with one another. Neither of them is very good at judging women, often to their detriment, and their relationships with women area theme predominant throughout the movie. Eigeman arrives and moves in with his cousin. Nichols just wants his cousin to leave; Eigeman pretens to not understand his cousin's animosity. They constantly carp at one antoher to great comic effect. Mira Sorvino plays a Spanish national who works with Nichols and has a fling with Eigeman. Events take an ugly turn when Eigeman, who is suspected of being a CIA spy by left wing radicals, is shot. Eigeman is hospitalized and left in a coma, forcing Nicols to admit to himself that he truly cares about his cousin and further forcing him to face some truths about himself. If you enjoy dialogue driven films, as I do, there is not much to dislike in this film. Nichols is an underrated actor (in one scene, he hilariously reads the Bible while dancing to "Pennsylvania 6-5000") and Eigeman manages to bring to life the relative we all hate deep down but enjoy spending time with just because its never dull when you're with him. Sorvino is underused but this is before her Oscar turn in "Mighty Aphrodite." Watch this first, then view Stillman's other works" "Metropolitan" and "The Last Days of Disco."
Rating:
Summary: Humorous and Intelligent
Review: I don't know what Whit Stillman is doing these days, but I sure wish he would get back to film-making. His last feature, "The Last Days of Disco," was probably his most accessible and mainstream and I thought he would soon reappear with yet another film, but he seems to have disappeared off the landscape. For my money, of the three films he has made, "Barcelona" is his best. Stillman probably never will be a huge box office success in any of his endeavours. He is almost an acquired taste. His movies are dialogue driven and if you don't have an ear for dialogue, they may seem boring. But his dialogue is crisp and original and moves the story along. He forces you to listen if you want to enjoy the film and apparently a lot of people don't want to have to pay close attention in order to understand what is going on. The plot? Taylor Nichols is an American living in Barcelona and working for a stateside company. He is visited by his pain-in-the-butt cousin, Chris Eigeman, a naval officer who's in Barcelona to prepare for the arrival of the U.S. fleet during a time of very anti-American attitudes. The cousins are constantly at odds, as they have been since early childhood, arguing about anything and everything, including politics, women, and their strained relationships with one another. Neither of them is very good at judging women, often to their detriment, and their relationships with women area theme predominant throughout the movie. Eigeman arrives and moves in with his cousin. Nichols just wants his cousin to leave; Eigeman pretens to not understand his cousin's animosity. They constantly carp at one antoher to great comic effect. Mira Sorvino plays a Spanish national who works with Nichols and has a fling with Eigeman. Events take an ugly turn when Eigeman, who is suspected of being a CIA spy by left wing radicals, is shot. Eigeman is hospitalized and left in a coma, forcing Nicols to admit to himself that he truly cares about his cousin and further forcing him to face some truths about himself. If you enjoy dialogue driven films, as I do, there is not much to dislike in this film. Nichols is an underrated actor (in one scene, he hilariously reads the Bible while dancing to "Pennsylvania 6-5000") and Eigeman manages to bring to life the relative we all hate deep down but enjoy spending time with just because its never dull when you're with him. Sorvino is underused but this is before her Oscar turn in "Mighty Aphrodite." Watch this first, then view Stillman's other works" "Metropolitan" and "The Last Days of Disco."
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