It Snows in Benidorm
Timothy Spall is at the peak of his powers in an Anglo-Spanish oddity that feels superficial.
By the sea: Timothy Spall and Sarita Choudhury
Despite having made films in her own language, the Spanish director Isabel Coixet is best known for the movies that she has made in English. Her 2003 feature My Life Without Me was the one that gave her an international reputation and in it the Canadian actress Sarah Polley gave an outstanding performance. Indeed, it is the quality of the acting in Coixet’s films that is their most notable aspect and British actors are among those who have stood out in them. The Bookshop (2018) may have been a rather feeble piece, but its star Bill Nighy was magnificent while Ben Kingsley was on his finest form when he worked for her in 2008. The film in question was Elegy which I consider to be her best, and it may not be by chance that that film was an adaptation by another hand of a novel by Philip Roth. More often one finds Coixet writing her own screenplays - often original work - and the weaknesses that I have found in her films usually stem from storylines that fail to cohere fully and to convince throughout.
It Snows in Benidorm follows that pattern and finds her working with another British talent, the great Timothy Spall. His career has been an unusual one, partly because he has always been something of a character actor (early on he lacked the conventional good looks to be cast in leading roles and it's in keeping that his most award-winning role came as late as 2014 playing the painter in Mike Leigh's biopic Mr Turner). Now in his sixties, Spall is doing some of his best work, but not necessarily in films fully worthy of his talent. Released last year, The Last Bus was a small-scale picture telling the tale of a widower and ultimately aimed at those who love feel-good movies. It was not the kind of material to win anybody a Best Actor award but, nevertheless, Spall’s performance deserved it. It Snows in Benidorm is a very different kind of film, possibly much more ambitious but less satisfying on its chosen level, yet it too finds Spall at his magnificent best.
Coixet’s film begins in Manchester but soon moves to Benidorm and opts convincingly for a mix of English and Spanish dialogue, the latter rendered with subtitles. The very first scene finds Spall’s Peter Riordan trying to help a couple from Bangalore over their financial problems (Peter is a long-term bank employee) and Spall is immediately and absolutely in character playing him from the inside. Peter’s devoted service to the bank is not appreciated and we are not surprised when his unsympathetic manager gives him early retirement against his wishes. Having in effect been sacked, Peter decides to travel to Benidorm where his brother, Daniel, ls living. They have seen little of one another and Peter is anxious to meet up again after these many years. However, on arrival in Benidorm he finds that Daniel has disappeared. It seems natural to treat him as a missing person, but it is quickly evident that Daniel had been very different in character to his brother. If Peter is the ultra-respectable loner who has never kicked over the traces, Daniel turns out to be someone running a club that puts on erotic floorshows and is reputed to be involved in business ventures of a very questionable kind. The film, presented in titled segments, invites us to follow Peter as he stays on in Benidorm intent on discovering the truth about Daniel and about his ‘disappearance’.
At nearly two hours, the film is relatively leisurely. Nevertheless, we are held throughout thanks to Spall. There is good work too from Sarita Choudhury in the role of Alex, a woman who is Daniel's partner in the club and who occasionally appears on its stage. Location shooting is a further benefit, but Coixet’s story has limited impact itself. As a mystery tale, It Snows in Benidorm does more or less reveal what happened to Daniel eventually (especially if one stays through the end credits!) but it's hardly a memorable tale. One could approach the film as a work about contrasting siblings (in addition to Peter and Daniel, there is a late revelation about another pair who are, outwardly at least, very different). However, that theme is hardly developed. So, perhaps, the film is best regraded as being about chances lost, if not necessarily forever. Certainly, Peter glimpses aspects of life unknown to him in Manchester while Alex, expressing herself in high-flown dialogue on occasion, is presented as someone who, despite surface appearances, carries an inner loneliness. She may have left her youth behind but Peter is decades older and an unlikely love match for her. The film itself seems uncertain how to portray the bond that develops between them, sidestepping sex but not a shared bed. It's a relationship which, had it been presented with full insight into the mixed needs and feelings of both of them, might have provided an effective centre for the film. But, as it is, Coixet never gets deep into it and this weakens the effectiveness of the piece although nothing can undermine the impact of Spall’s performance: if one recommends the film despite all its limitations, it is because of him.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Timothy Spall, Sarita Choudhury, Carmen Machi, Pedro Casablanc, Ana Torrent, Édgar Vittorino, Leonardo Ortuzgris, Ben Temple, Victor Andrews, Victoria Hidalgo.
Dir Isabel Coixet, Pro Agustin Almodóvar, Pedro Almodóvar and Esther García, Screenplay Isabel Coixet, Ph Jennifer Cox and Jean-Claude Larrieu, Art Dir Uxua Castelló, Ed Jordi Azategui, Music Alfonso de Villallonga, Costumes Sueva Sampelayo Vázquez.
El Deseo/Moviestar+/RTVE /Benidorm Film Office-Parkland Entertainment.
118 mins. Spain/UK 2020. UK Rel: 2 September 2022. Cert. 15.