Scarlett and Penelope and Javier, Oh My! Living Large at the "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" Premiere By Jenny Peters August 5, 2008 Los Angeles, CA

It was a seriously glittery night in Westwood on Monday as the too-beautiful-for-words stars of "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" took to the red carpet at the Mann Village Theater.

There was Penelope Cruz, who at 34 is perhaps more lovely than ever before, in a subtly beautiful midnight blue Herve Leroux silk gown and Chopard diamonds and sapphires, alongside Scarlett Johansson, her equally gorgeous and voluptuous co-star. She was striking in a long red chiffon dress, providing quite the contrast to Woody Allen, the film's director, who looked more like a nebbishy accountant than a Hollywood legend in his yellow button-down shirt and khaki pants.

But all female eyes were on Javier Bardem, the darkly handsome Academy Award-winning actor who returns to his sexy self (as opposed to his frightening portrayal in "No Country for Old Men" that won him his Oscar) in the offbeat romantic comedy set in beautiful Barcelona.

"Javier is so fantastic," Johansson (who gets some steamy sex scenes with him in the movie) said. "He's so sweet and lovely and is such a great actor – and of course it's very easy to looking dreamily, lovingly into his big brown eyes!"

The movie's breakout star is Rebecca Hall, who looked positively demure compared to the va-va-voom Cruz and Johansson in a black knee-length Prada dress and shoes; she's also the conservative one in the sexually adventurous story that unfolded to raucous laughter and cheers at the premiere. And that laughter was a slightly unexpected element.

"Woody did spend a lot of the filming, if you asked if it were a comedy, he would say 'No, this isn't a comedy,'" Hall recalled. "But I knew (audiences) were going to laugh. The funny about this film is the truth. It's the heart. It's the fact that these are recognizable scenarios. They are recognizable modes of human behavior."

Joining in the laughter and after party-revelry were many familiar faces, from Debi Mazar and Elisabeth Rohm to Sarah Rue, Buzz Aldrin, and Salma Hayek. Woody was ensconced in the VIP room with wife Soon-Yi Previn, happily feeling the positive buzz that energized the place. There were even whispers of the possibility of Oscar nominations for Cruz and Hall; there will probably be more on that after "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" opens on Aug. 15.

Source: FWD