''The Best Summer of My Life'' ( es, El mejor verano de mi vida, links=no) is a 2018 Spanish comedy film directed by

Dani de la Orden Dani de la Orden (born 2 June 1989) is a Spanish film and television director. Biography Dani de la Orden was born on 2 June 1989 in Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest ci ...

starring Leo Harlem,

Toni Acosta Antonia del Carmen Acosta León (born 10 April 1972), better known as Toni Acosta, is a Spanish actress. Biography Antonia del Carmen Acosta León was born in San Cristóbal de la Laguna (in the island of Tenerife) on 10 April 1972. Her paren ...

, Maggie Civantos and Jordi Sánchez together with Alejandro Serrano and Stephanie Gil. It is a remake of the 2013 Italian film '' Sole a catinelle''.

Plot

Curro, a salesman, is a scoundrel with a heart of gold who promises his son Nico a holidays that he is not able to afford.

Reparto

Production

Consisting of a remake of the 2013 Italian film '' Sole a catinelle'' (written by Gennaro Nunziante and Checco Zalone), the screenplay of ''The Best Summer of My Life'' was written by

, Marta Suárez, Daniel Castro and Olatz Arroyo. Valentín Álvarez was charged with the cinematography whereas Zacarías M. de la Riva authored the score. Produced by Álamo Audiovisual, A.I.E., Atresmedia Cine, S.L. and Álamo Producciones Audiovisuales, S.L., the film was primarily shot in the island of

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

, the province of Toledo,

Arganda del Rey Arganda del Rey () is a municipality and city of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. Geography Located in the central part of the Iberian Peninsula, the city lies at roughly 613 metres above sea level, not far from the junction of the J ...

and

Aluche Aluche is a barrio of the city of Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-la ...

. Tenerife was used to primarily portray the fictional setting in

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the reg ...

. Only two brief aerial shots actually correspond to the latter city.

Release

The film was presented at the 21st

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 ...

(FCME) on 21 April 2018. Distributed by A Contracorriente Films, the film was theatrically released on 12 July 2018. ''The Best Summer of My Life'' became the third best performing Spanish film at the domestic box office in 2018, grossing circa €8 million.

Reception

Raquel Hernández Luján of ''

HobbyConsolas ''HobbyConsolas'' is a Spanish video game magazine founded in 1991 by Hobby Press and published by Axel Springer SE. The first issue appeared in October 1990. The monthly magazine offers information about games for all consoles, and since 2012 ha ...

'' gave the film 78 out of 100 points, considering it to be "a fresh and white comedy, tremendously well-intentioned", highlighting Leo Harlem's performance as well as the supporting cast while negatively assessing the overly "childish" and "dumbish" dramatic side. Manuel J. Lombardo of ''

Diario de Sevilla ''Diario de Sevilla'' is a Spanish newspaper founded in 1999 in Seville. It is part of the communications group Grupo Joly. Its circulation as of 2013 was 23,172. The current ''Diario'' is not to be confused with a previous periodical of the sam ...

'' wrote that the film encapsulates the comedic performance of Leo Harlem within a bland format displaying a "shameful plot" and "shoddy forms" making "any complicity with the proposal literally impossible". Pere Vall of ''

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 ...

'' gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, highlighting Leo Harlem's performance. Toni Vall of ''

Cinemanía ''Cinemanía'' is a Spanish language monthly film magazine based in Madrid, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin) ...

'' gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, writing that despite being "well directed", the film was at the service of a "forgetful insubstantiality" and that it was particularly "innocuous".

References