It Snows in Benidorm

It starts off well, but gradually descends into banality as the viewing time progresses, as elements are introduced that disregard the Chekhov's gun principle. It simply confuses. The standout is Timothy Spall's character, an innocent man who believes his brother is still as dull as ever when it comes to enjoying life, but upon arriving in Benidorm to visit him, he finds that nobody will tell him where he is. It's a compelling plot that maintains good suspense, and the character's dramatic scenes capturing the essence of Benidorm are also commendable, but that device loses its quality in the second half of the film and becomes tiresome. Nonetheless, Benidorm strikes me as an ugly, extremely ugly city, and this movie has only increased my aversion towards it.

However, not all of the film is shot in Benidorm. The part where they showcase the abandoned amusement park is actually the Pola Park, a children's amusement park located in Santa Pola, where I used to go every summer as a child.

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...

What a waste of talented actors through bad direction. Even Timothy Spall cannot save this film as it sinks into suffocating banality. Painfully slow and unrewarding. What could of been an interesting plot sinks into two hours of navel gazing. Possible interesting characters are left to struggle with cheap dialogue and a storyline that stutters to a finish before it's time leaving you totally frustrated with the storytelling. Symbolism pops its head up constantly but rarely makes a point, even when it could have helped the film along. Sometimes the location can be the saving of a bad film but even this was frittered away.

Coixet tríes bravely a new poetic film with some good points (Sylvia Plath in the old fishermen' s Benidorm), but losing rhythm and falling inadvertedly in some image and lyric topics

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.