* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:
** The narrative - and Vicky herself - views Maria Elena and Juan Antonio's relationship as mutually toxic. But really Maria Elena is a straight-up abuser; she uses her suicide attempt as an excuse to claw her way back into Juan Antonio's life, attributes all of his success as an artist to her, resorts to emotional blackmail [[spoiler: when Cristina ends things and tries to ''shoot'' Juan Antonio]].
** Vicky could be someone who just pretends to be more responsible and structured than Cristina - but secretly longs to be able to cut loose. One has to wonder how her marriage with Doug will endure if she keeps suppressing that side of herself.
** As noted on the main page, Cristina's photography skills are a bit of an InformedAbility. Maybe Maria Elena is just indulging her to win her into her good books?
* BestKnownForTheFanservice: This is that movie where Creator/ScarlettJohansson and Creator/PenelopeCruz [[GirlOnGirlIsHot make out]], right?
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Maria Elena doesn't appear until nearly an hour into the movie, yet Creator/PenelopeCruz got the film's only Oscar nomination and won.
* JerkassWoobie: Despite being a horrible emotional (and sometimes physical) abuser, Maria Elena does struggle with numerous suicide attempts and Creator/PenelopeCruz imbues her with so much sincere emotion that you do feel sorry for her.
* JustHereForGodzilla: Some watch the movie just for the cinematography showing off the Spanish landscape. It was all filmed on location too.
* {{Narm}}: Some of the overly long and flowery words can get a bit silly after a while - especially when a character like Cristina is saying them. It brings to mind the episode of ''{{Series/Friends}}'' where Joey uses a thesaurus to make every word sound 'smart'.
* SugarWiki/SheReallyCanAct: Creator/ScarlettJohansson was singled out among a lot of critical praises of the film - as she had mostly been starring in teen movies, comedies and rarely-seen indie dramas.
* StoicWoobie: Considering Juan Antonio has been a victim of emotional (and sometimes physical) abuse from his ex-wife, it's impressive how stoic he is most of the time.
* TestosteroneBrigade: Featuring the beautiful ladies Creator/ScarlettJohansson, Creator/RebeccaHall and Creator/PenelopeCruz - two of whom [[GirlOnGirlIsHot briefly get together]] - and set in a hot climate like Spain, allowing the actresses to wear not very much.
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Vicky comes across as unnecessarily judgmental when it comes to other people's lives - especially with Cristina. She's particularly horrible to Juan Antonio, telling him he probably deserved it when his wife ''stabbed'' him. And she continues the victim blaming when [[spoiler: Maria Elena tries to shoot him]]! She also freely cheats on Doug - first with Juan Antonio and later emotionally with a man in her class.
* TheWoobie: Cristina when you think about it. Unlike her more structured friend, she has no idea what she wants out of life. And she's fully aware of it - so most of what she does is out of a desire to feel anything.
----