Nico and Dani (2000)

I am not a professional reviewer, but this film really impressed me because of the acting, directing and the script. It is so natural, the script is so true-to-life and the situation is so delicately handled, that it was a real delight from start to finish. It is a treatment of sexual coming-of-age that should touch a cord with a lot of us.. I know it did with me! I heartily recommend this film to anyone who likes sensitive human situations.

Fmovies: "Nico and Dani" is as true as a film on adolescence and sexual awakening can get. A key is that the title characters are not sleazy party animals, taking advantage of women and not thinking twice about it (seen more times than one in American teen comedies that are driven by zero morals)...they are not jock-ey savage pigs, but sensitive and confused. Without guidance, reasoning is tough for them...especially because they are searching for who they really are, and this entails coming to terms with their sexuality. The film takes place over a long, blurry muddle of a summer with many wonderful (as well as dark) moments of self-discovery. Dani is left alone for his vacation minusing a sexually frustrated cook/caretaker. He invites a longtime friend named Nico, who is sprightly and refreshing...but also very much in a perplexing state of identity awareness. He tries on homosexuality with Dani, but leans toward the other side when he meets the a great summer girl who he becomes fascinated with. This provokes Dani's envy and sadness and their friendship is tested when he realizes he is gay. Like even the best of summers, ones sexual awakening has its share of fond and bad memories. It is a time to cherish and learn from, although there is pain as well as hapiness...rain as well as sunshine. And the girls of summer always become that distant memory of something special, but left behind for good reasons as well as bad.

Every time I see this movie I discover something. There is a great script, great performances and great directing plays. This movie is about the summer of two teenagers that change his life for ever. Two boys, two girls, one writer and his friends are the characters of the film. There are certain hints that will show how the movie is developing until the end. The ending is great, the movie has parts of good inteligence. Take a minute and think of every aspect, every detail. Some people may think this is a gay movie. I don't think so. If you look all through the movie you will say... may be, may be not. I haven't mentioned that this movie is based on a play by Jordi Sanchez, it is divided into acts and this is very original in my opinion. Well, Fernando Ramallo and Jordi Vilches are the boys. Their performances are great. The girls characters are very well two. Chisco Amado is the writer and is a key character due to the fact that something will happen with him and Dani (Ramallo), and that is seen due to a phrase. There are unforgetable phrases. When Nico says: I must have sex before 17. Superb. Incredible. Enjoy.

Nico and Dani fmovies. I selected this as Blockbuster was closing -- just a title in the Foreign Films section. I had no idea what the movie was about so it was a constant surprise from beginning to end. What a good movie! If you have read the other reviews, you know what the story is about. The best part, to me, was their last day together. They both realized that they were on different tracks in life, but they also realized that they were good friends and that they would remain good friends. When Nico told Dani "have your dad sell me this motorcycle," you knew that Nico wanted to continue the friendship -- there was never any question that Dani wanted to continue. So, for me, that was the best part. Sex comes and goes, but friendship can last a lifetime. This was a very gentle movie with a good ending. -- from Bob in Oklahoma

The film is just a story, but it's very, very good storytelling, and I'd be hard-pressed to explain why it's so good. It has to do partly with the fact that at first we think we know right where it's going, and that the worth will be in how it gets there -- we're amused by Nico's interest in girls, he's obviously gay (right?). What makes the Dani and Nico characters so believable is in the handling of the material, and the very smart decision to not really define anything. It's very realistic about the first sex between boys, and how it so often has to do with sex games (here, masturbation tips).

Before we have a clearer handle on the (differing) sexuality of the two characters, their sex seems to play like this: they see girls, they get aroused, and they take out their sexual frustration on each other. And that works because of the two characters' subtle manner -- Dani's creepy preening, Nico's goofy charm, and how at first it's Nico who seems to be the most "gay" of the two boys, simply because he has precise features and is abnormally skinny. (Like "Edge of Seventeen" or "Beautiful Thing," two of the best gay self-discovery films, the boys here look real.) The emotions, and the past histories of the characters -- like the man whose house Dani goes to, or the woman who, too, had a special girl friend when she was young -- are kept appropriately inexact.

Aside from the talent at passing along this story, there is also a nice feel the film has -- something like a cross between the accessibility of a Western and the human interest of Ingmar Bergman... It's like a funky road trip, with that harmonica music and the very apt photography, as well as the suggestive intertitles of dialogue that will occur later in the film. A comparison between this and "Y tu Mama Tambien," of the following year, would not be in vain. 8/10

I loved this movie - saw it at the Toronto Film Festival - very sweet story about two teenage boys who frequently engage in "Krampack" which is apparently Spanish slang for masturbation. Everything is tastefully done, and the direction, acting and script are first-rate - I really appreciated this film's frankness in depicting its subject matter and not shying away from teenage sex, or use of drugs, drinking, etc. This is how teenagers behave - not some sanitized and artificial version as typically portrayed in most mainstream American c**p. God forbid, some teenage boys actually engage in homosexual experimentation. The main character Dani, very cute by the way, develops a much deeper affection for his friend, Nico, on a summer visit when the parents are away - every night they engage in masturbating each other, growing in intimacy every night. But Nico's affections are directed toward a girl living nearby, and Dani becomes understandably jealous and much conflict and tension ensue. I can't say enough about the quality of the young performances and the writing. Hats off to Cesc Gay, the director, for sticking to his guns and producing this wonderful film about the real sexual tensions that can frequently occur between teenage boys (and girls) when they're being honest with each other. Loved it!