Barcelona (film)

Last updated

Barcelona
Barcelona-movie.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Whit Stillman
Written byWhit Stillman
Produced byWhit Stillman
Starring
CinematographyJohn Thomas
Edited by Christopher Tellefsen
Music byMark Suozzo
Production
company
Distributed by Fine Line Features
Release date
  • July 29, 1994 (1994-07-29)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3.2 million
Box office$7.2 million [1]

Barcelona is a 1994 American romantic comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by Whit Stillman. Set in Barcelona, the film stars Taylor Nichols, Chris Eigeman, and Mira Sorvino. [2] [3]

Contents

Barcelona is the second film — after Metropolitan (1990) and preceding The Last Days of Disco (1998) — in what Stillman calls his "Doomed Bourgeois in Love" series. The three films are independent of each other except for the cameo appearances of some common characters.

Premise

In 1987, Ted Boynton is a Chicago salesman living and working in Barcelona. Ted's cousin, Fred, a naval officer, unexpectedly comes to stay with Ted. Fred has been sent to Barcelona to handle public relations on behalf of a U.S. fleet scheduled to arrive later.

The cousins have a history of conflict since childhood. Ted and Fred develop relationships with various single women in Barcelona and experience the negative reactions of some of the community's residents to the context of Fred's presence. Ted also faces possible problems with his American employer and with the concept of attraction to physical beauty.

Cast

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Barcelona holds an approval rating of 81% based on 36 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. [4] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 74 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [5]

Year-end lists

Related Research Articles

<i>On Deadly Ground</i> 1994 film

On Deadly Ground is a 1994 American environmental action adventure film directed, co-produced by, and starring Steven Seagal, and co-starring Michael Caine, Joan Chen, John C. McGinley and R. Lee Ermey. As of 2024, it is Seagal's only directorial effort and features a minor appearance by Billy Bob Thornton in one of his early roles. Seagal plays Forrest Taft, an expert firefighter who chooses to fight back against the environmental destruction caused by his ruthless former employer (Caine). On Deadly Ground was theatrically released in the United States on February 18, 1994, by Warner Bros. It garnered negative reviews from critics and grossed $78.1 million worldwide on a $50 million production budget.

<i>Quiz Show</i> (film) 1994 film by Robert Redford

Quiz Show is a 1994 American historical mystery-drama film directed and produced by Robert Redford. Dramatizing the Twenty-One quiz show scandals of the 1950s, the screenplay by Paul Attanasio adapts the memoirs of Richard N. Goodwin, a U.S. Congressional lawyer who investigated the accusations of game-fixing by show producers. The film chronicles the rise and fall of popular contestant Charles Van Doren after the fixed loss of Herb Stempel and Goodwin's subsequent probe.

<i>Heavenly Creatures</i> 1994 New Zealand drama film by Peter Jackson

Heavenly Creatures is a 1994 New Zealand biographical film directed by Peter Jackson, from a screenplay he co-wrote with his partner, Fran Walsh. It stars Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet in their feature film debuts, with Sarah Peirse, Diana Kent, Clive Merrison and Simon O'Connor in supporting roles. The film blends elements of various genres, such as period drama, crime, psychological thriller, romance, and fantasy.

<i>The Last Seduction</i> 1994 neo-noir erotic thriller film directed by John Dahl

The Last Seduction is a 1994 American neo-noir erotic thriller film directed by John Dahl, featuring Linda Fiorentino, Peter Berg, and Bill Pullman. The film was produced by ITC Entertainment and distributed by October Films. Fiorentino's performance garnered widespread critical acclaim and generated talk of an Oscar nomination, but she was deemed ineligible because the film was shown on HBO before its theatrical release. October Films and ITC Entertainment sued the Academy, but were unable to make Fiorentino eligible for a nomination.

<i>Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle</i> 1994 American film

Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle is a 1994 American biographical drama film directed by Alan Rudolph from a screenplay written by Rudolph and Randy Sue Coburn. The film stars Jennifer Jason Leigh as writer Dorothy Parker and depicts the members of the Algonquin Round Table, a group of writers, actors and critics who met almost every weekday from 1919 to 1929 at Manhattan's Algonquin Hotel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whit Stillman</span> American writer-director (born 1952)

John Whitney Stillman is an American writer-director and actor known for his 1990 film Metropolitan, which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. He is also known for his other films, Barcelona (1994), The Last Days of Disco (1998), Damsels in Distress (2011), as well as his most recent film, Love & Friendship, released in 2016.

<i>Vanya on 42nd Street</i> 1994 film

Vanya on 42nd Street is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Louis Malle, written by Andre Gregory, and starring Wallace Shawn and Julianne Moore. The film is an intimate, interpretive performance of the 1899 play Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov as adapted by David Mamet.

<i>The Ref</i> 1994 film by Ted Demme

The Ref is a 1994 American Christmas black comedy crime film directed by Ted Demme, written by Richard LaGravenese and Marie Weiss, and starring Denis Leary, Judy Davis, and Kevin Spacey. The plot centers on a burglar who, while evading capture from the police, is forced to take a bickering, dysfunctional family hostage on Christmas Eve. The burglar finds himself having to act as a de facto marriage counselor, or "referee", between the squabbling husband and wife, a situation that becomes more complicated when the husband's relatives drop by for Christmas dinner.

<i>Norma Jean & Marilyn</i> 1996 television film directed by Tim Fywell

Norma Jean & Marilyn is a 1996 American biographical drama television film directed by Tim Fywell, based on the 1985 book Goddess, the Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe by Anthony Summers. The film stars Ashley Judd as Norma Jean Dougherty and Mira Sorvino as Marilyn Monroe. It premiered on HBO on May 18, 1996.

<i>The Last Days of Disco</i> 1998 film by Whit Stillman

The Last Days of Disco is a 1998 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Whit Stillman, and loosely based on his travels and experiences in various nightclubs in Manhattan, including Studio 54. Starring Chloë Sevigny and Kate Beckinsale, the film follows a group of Ivy League and Hampshire College graduates falling in and out of love in the disco scene of New York City in the early 1980s.

<i>Metropolitan</i> (1990 film) 1990 film by Whit Stillman

Metropolitan is a 1990 American romantic comedy-drama film produced, written and directed by Whit Stillman, in his feature directorial debut. The film concerns the lives of a group of wealthy young socialites during debutante season in Manhattan. In addition to some of their debutante parties, it covers their frequent informal after-hours gatherings at a friend's Upper East Side apartment, where they discuss life, philosophy and their fate; form attachments, romances and intrigues; and react to an interesting but less well-to-do newcomer.

<i>Naked in New York</i> 1993 film by Daniel Algrant

Naked in New York is a 1994 American romantic comedy film directed by Daniel Algrant and starring Eric Stoltz, Mary-Louise Parker, Ralph Macchio, Jill Clayburgh, Tony Curtis, Timothy Dalton, and Kathleen Turner, and featuring multiple celebrity cameos, including William Styron listing all of his authored, penned and film work, Whoopi Goldberg as a bas-relief mask, and former New York Dolls singer David Johansen as a talking monkey, which were arranged by executive producer Martin Scorsese.

<i>Jumping Jacks</i> 1952 film by Norman Taurog

Jumping Jacks is a 1952 American semi-musical comedy film starring the comedy team of Martin and Lewis. The film was directed by Norman Taurog, and released by Paramount Pictures. It was one of the military comedies that marked the duo's early career. Brigadier General Frank Dorn, Deputy Chief of the US Army's Information Office praised Jumping Jacks as something that would "contribute to troop morale within the Army."

<i>Black Beauty</i> (1994 film) 1994 family drama film

Black Beauty is a 1994 family drama film, written and directed by Caroline Thompson in her directorial debut. The fifth cinematic adaptation of Anna Sewell's 1877 novel of the same name, the film stars Andrew Knott, who, the year prior, had played Dicken in The Secret Garden, as well as Sean Bean, David Thewlis and Alan Cumming as Black Beauty. Produced and distributed by Warner Bros., under their Warner Bros. Family Entertainment label, the film’s story is told as an autobiography of the horse Black Beauty, with Cumming’s voiceover narration as Beauty leading viewers through the trials of the horse's life through his own eyes.

<i>The Road to Wellville</i> (film) 1994 American film

The Road to Wellville is a 1994 American comedy-drama film written, produced and directed by Alan Parker, an adaptation of T. Coraghessan Boyle's novel of the same name, which tells the story of the doctor and clean-living advocate John Harvey Kellogg and his methods employed at the Battle Creek Sanitarium at the beginning of the 20th century.

Cecil Taylor Nichols is an American actor, known for his roles in several films by Whit Stillman including major roles in Metropolitan (1990) and Barcelona (1994), as well as his role in the regular cast of the television series PEN15 (2019–2021). Modern Family (2010)

<i>Car 54, Where Are You?</i> (film) 1994 film by Bill Fishman

Car 54, Where Are You? is a 1994 comedy film directed by Bill Fishman and stars David Johansen and John C. McGinley. It is based on the television series of the same name starring Joe E. Ross and Fred Gwynne that ran from 1961 to 1963.

<i>Friend of the Family</i> 1996 American film

Friend of the Family, also known as Elke's Erotic Nights or simply Elke, is a 1995 American erotic drama film written and directed by Edward Holzman, and starring Shauna O'Brien & Griffin Drew.

<i>Do You Believe?</i> (film) 2015 American film

Do You Believe? is a 2015 American Christian drama film directed by Jon Gunn and stars an ensemble cast featuring Ted McGinley, Mira Sorvino, Andrea Logan White, Lee Majors, Alexa PenaVega, Sean Astin, Madison Pettis, Cybill Shepherd, and Brian Bosworth. The film is distributed by Pure Flix, who released it on March 20, 2015.

References

  1. "Barcelona (1994)". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  2. Brody, Richard (August 6, 2014). "Movie of the Week: "Barcelona"". The New Yorker . Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  3. "Barcelona". The Criterion Collection . Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  4. "Barcelona". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  5. "Barcelona". Metacritic . Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  6. 1 2 Strauss, Bob (December 30, 1994). "At the Movies: Quantity Over Quality". Los Angeles Daily News (Valley ed.). p. L6.
  7. Anthony, Todd (January 5, 1995). "Hits & Disses". Miami New Times .
  8. Webster, Dan (January 1, 1995). "In Year of Disappointments, Some Movies Still Delivered". The Spokesman-Review (Spokane ed.). p. 2.
  9. "The Year's Best". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . December 25, 1994. p. K/1.
  10. Pickle, Betsy (December 30, 1994). "Searching for the Top 10... Whenever They May Be". Knoxville News-Sentinel . p. 3.
  11. Lyons, Jeffrey (host); Medved, Michael (host) (January 6, 1995). "Best & Worst of 1994". Sneak Previews . Season 20. WTTW . Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  12. King, Dennis (December 25, 1994). "SCREEN SAVERS In a Year of Faulty Epics, The Oddest Little Movies Made The Biggest Impact". Tulsa World (Final Home ed.). p. E1.