Nico and Dani (2000)

a simple story about summer holiday, an old friendship and the force of sexuality in the relations between characters. everything presented in honest manner.and the result is real seductive. and credible because it is a large slice of teens life, defined by discoveries, confessions, desires and the understand of truth about yourself. and the summer air is the best ingredient for give force and delicacy and right colors to the story. the surprise could be the remarkable performance of two lead young actors. and the wise way to write the dialogues. so, a beautiful eulogy to an unique age and about the nuances of friendship in its frontiers.

This movie is for every gay man or lesbian who had a crush on their best friend, but could do nothing about it. This is a delightful exploration of the sexual awakening of two friends who come to radically different conclusions, and yet still manage to be there for each other.Dani (Fernando Ramallo) is left alone at his family's beach house for the summer. While there, he is tutored by Sonia (Ana Garcia), a surprisingly astute young woman. He invites his best friend, Nico (Jordi Vilches), to come stay with him for awhile. As the two have grown and become more sexually aware, they have resorted to the "krampack" to relieve their sexual frustrations in the absence of girls to sleep with. Dani is perfectly happy with this arrangement, and indeed is looking forward to continuing it with Nico. Nico, on the other hand, is looking forward to moving on to experiences with girls. So, when he meets Berta (Esther Nubiola), who is just as interested in him as he is in her, he is delighted. And being a good friend, he tries to set Dani up with Berta's friend, Elena (Marieta Orozco). Dani, however would prefer to be with Nico. To further complicate things, Dani strikes up a friendship with Julian (Chisco Amado), a handsome young writer in town for the summer to whom he is mutually attracted, although both are a little uncomfortable about Dani's youth. Through affairs, misunderstandings, and a disastrous dinner party, the story moves along to an inevitable, yet satisfying conclusion.This is a nicely handled story. There is little judgment passed on the characters' sexualities, as what seems to be important is self acceptance. It is also nice to see that Nico and Dani remain true to their friendship, despite the fact that their desires are quite different. Conflicts are handled and resolved in a believable way.The acting is delightful. Amado and Garcia do a nice job as the older and wiser adults, who still struggle with issues of their own. Orozco plays the shy adolescent to perfection, and contrasts nicely with Nubiola's more confident and beautiful young woman. Likewise Vilches and Ramallo contrast nicely with each other, and yet still portray a believable friendship.All in all, an excellent portrayal of adolescent sexual discovery in all its myriad forms. A movie well worth seeing.

I wish I had seen this a few years ago when I was going through something similar. This movie reminded me of what it felt like before all the pieces clicked together. Though Nico, the best friend, is a bit naive, it's still a great movie about friendship and on how tough it is growing up and realizing that you're gay. I almost didn't bare to watch at times, because the scenarios were so authentic. Especially the scene of the morning after and at the house of the older man just took me back in time. I really felt sorry for Dani, because he was too young and dumb in the way that even though he knew it could never happen, he still tried to pursue it. The acting is superb in my view, the boys really nail it. I only wish that I had had a friend more like Niko when I was growing up!

First of all, I've now begun to plan a trip to Castelldefels and Cataluna. The scenery is spectacular! This story about denuded emotions between two teens is funny, heart-breaking and very, very European. Dani's displacement behavior is a bit alarming, but still accurate in context. Nico's love for and confusion about his best friend are equally satisfying as cinematic contemplation. As a particular lover of European films, this one is clever, twisted and completely captivating.