It Snows in Benidorm

This starts off as one film and ends another, with a change mid way through; something I would find interesting but here it's taxing and very boring.

The usually reliable Timothy Spall is solid but I can help but feel he's getting more typecast as lonely, gruff middle aged men- see Mr Turner, Mrs Lowry and Son, The Last Bus and TVs The Sixth Commandment, that I could tell which direction his character would take .

I feel it would work best as a straightforward drama of a drab and lonely man ' finding himself' in Benidorm, with romance blossoming.

The stranger in a stranger land concept worked best with Tim Roth in 'Sundown', this could have aimed for that. Even a 'About Schmidt' plot would work.

The thriller aspect doesn't catch fire and is too slowly paced, doesn't grip either.

I feel a bit mean posting a poor review of this film. It is clear that the director is trying hard to create a visual language that is charming and menacing at the same time. The story, predicated on a man whose joyless life is upended when he tries to visit his brother in Spain only to find him missing and tied up in shady goings-on. Scenes are bathed in light and garish colour strongly reminiscent of Almodovar and which reflect the main character's escape from the drudgery of his routine life.

At times, the camera lingers on the bacchanalia of Benidorm's nightlife and presents an alienating, decadent and surreal world. All of this seems to be intended to to make us uncomfortable. Regrettably, the scenes are so stylised that they feel pretentious rather than disturbing. The film is trying way too hard to create a disconcerting atmosphere with it's blend of innocence and depravity and its focus on the bizarre details of Benidorm life.

The dialogue is stagey. Attempts at elliptical and thought-provoking conversation are grating and make the film feel longer than it's (already too-long) 2 hours. The police officer spouting Sylvia Plath, for example, is utter nonsense.

Going back to my original comment, the reason I'm uncomfortable leaving this film a poor is that I think the director has real creativity and visual flare. I just think she needs to rein it in and concentrate more on the plot, dialogue and editing, which is what makes this such a mess. It's also a real shame to see Spall, one of this country's finest, involved in this half-baked project.

After years of faithful service to The Bank, Peter Riordan is given early retirement, first on his list list is a break with his brother in Benidorm, only he isn't there, he does however encounter his brother's business partner Alex.

It wasn't quite what I was expecting, or maybe not what I'd hoped for, but it was a relatively enjoyable movie. At two hours, it's over long, and there are some scenes that are painfully slow, but the story itself is interesting, and watching Peter unravelling his brother's disappearance is enjoyable.

It owes a lot to the brilliance of Timothy Spall, who elevates the film quite a lot. Sarita Choudhury was very good also, she had a definite presence.

I can understand why some say it doesn't really go anywhere, and for some I can see that it could frustrating, but as a character study, it's quite enjoyable.

6/10.

This is truly an awful movie. Terrible acting, direction and badly paced. Why on earth do you have to make it this long with sooo little content.

Spall cannot hold a role like this himself, he needs help from people with a pulse and then he can potter around like a man muttering to himself in his nutter Englishman way he repeats in every role.

Every other actor from the cringy boss at the start to Sarita Choudry looks like this is their first role and acting natural is an alien concept.

Also lastly, why is it that I have to write reviews of 500+ words when there are so many shorter ones here, anyone know?

I liked this setting, it started sincere, narrated, introducing the protagonist and his peculiarities, tried to keep a mystery/suspense about the brother, but it didn't work very well, we know a little about the Bernidorm culture, however nothing very attractive besides, the story becomes dragged and long...