''Casual Day'' is a 2007 Spanish dark workplace comedy film directed by Max Lemcke. The ensemble cast features Juan Diego,

Luis Tosar Luis López Tosar (born 13 October 1971) is a Spanish actor and musician from Galicia. He is one of the most recognizable and versatile actors in Spain, best known for performances in films such as '' Cell 211'', '' Take My Eyes'', '' Sleep Tig ...

Arturo Valls Arturo Valls Mollà (born 24 March 1975) is a Spanish actor, primarily featured in comedy roles, as well as television presenter. He became popular for his performance in the comedy series '' Camera Café'' from 2005 to 2009. Biography Arturo ...

Alberto San Juan Alberto San Juan Guijarro (born 1 November 1968) is a Spanish film, stage and television actor. Biography Alberto San Juan was born on 1 November 1968 in Madrid, son to cartoonist and radio announcer Pilar Guijarro Ortiz de Zárate. He spen ...

Malena Alterio Malena Grisel Alterio Bacaicoa (born 21 January 1974) is an Argentine-born Spanish actress. She became well known with the Spanish TV series ''Aquí no hay quien viva'', playing the role of Belén López Vázquez. Movies * ''Espejo, espejo' ...

, Álex Angulo, Carlos Kaniowsky,

Secun de la Rosa Secundino de la Rosa Márquez (born 23 December 1969), artistically known as Secun de la Rosa, is a Spanish actor and theatre author and director. Biography Secundino Benjamín Juan de la Rosa Márquez Ailagas de Carvajal was born in Barce ...

Marta Etura Marta Etura Palenzuela (born in 28 October, 1978) is a Spanish film and television actress. She is known for '' Your Next Life'' (2004), ''Cell 211'' (2009), '' Sleep Tight'' (2011), and '' The Invisible Guardian'' (2017). Biography Etura wa ...

and Mikel Losada.

Plot

Ruy is a young man who has always had it easy. But José Antonio, the father of his girlfriend Inés, gets him a job promotion in the company as José Antonio wants to groom Ruy as his successor, even if Ruy actually wants to dump Inés, so he finds himself cornered.

Cast

Production

The screenplay was penned by Pablo and Daniel Remón. A Monfort Producciones,

Telecinco Cinema Telecinco Cinema, S.A.U. is the film production division of Mediaset España. It produces both feature films and television films. History Telecinco Cinema is a subsidiary film company of Mediaset España. Formerly known as Estudios Picasso, the ...

and Videntia Frames production, the film was shot in between

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

and Amasa (

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...

). Shooting wrapped in 2006.

Release

The film premiered at the

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; es, Festival Internacional de San Sebastián, eu, Donostia Zinemaldia) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in ...

in September 2007. It also screened at the

Gothenburg Film Festival Göteborg Film Festival (GFF), formerly Göteborg International Film Festival (GIFF), known in English as the Gothenburg Film Festival, formerly Gothenburg International Film Festival, is an annual film festival in Gothenburg, Sweden and the larg ...

, the Miami Film Festival and the

Málaga Spanish Film Festival Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

. It was theatrically released in Spain on 9 May 2008.

Reception

Reviewing for ''

Fotogramas ''Fotogramas'' is Spanish digital and print film magazine which has been in circulation since 1946. It is one of the early film magazines in Spain. History Founded in Barcelona, it was first published on 15 November 1946 by Antonio Nadal-Rodó a ...

'', Mirito Torreiro rated ''Casual Day'' with 4 out of 5 stars, drawing out the entire cast, "without exception", to be the best thing about the film, assessing it to be "a stimulating ''opera prima'' that sheds light on the real situation of labour relations". Javier Ocaña of '' El País'' deemed the film to be a "choral portrait of private and public contempt as stark as it is humorous, performed by a magnificent group of comedians", "written with precision, simplicity and an extremely dark sense of humour".

Accolades

, - , align = "center" rowspan = "7" , 2009 , , rowspan = "7" , 64th CEC Medals , , colspan = "2" , Best Film , , , , rowspan = "7" , , - , Best Director , , Max Lemcke , , , - , Best Actor , , Juan Diego , , , - , Best Supporting Actor , , Luis Tosar , , , - , Best Supporting Actress , , Estíbaliz Gabilondo , , , - , Best Original Screenplay , , Daniel Remón, Pablo Remón , , , - , Best Newcomer , , Max Lemcke , ,

References

{{authority control Workplace comedy films 2007 films Spanish black comedy films 2007 black comedy films Films shot in Madrid Films shot in the Basque Country (autonomous community) 2000s Spanish films 2000s Spanish-language films