30 Second Bottom Line: Two virginal teen-age boys are intent on using their two-week summer vacation to cross the bridge to manhood. They do, but in a way that neither could have predicted.
Story Line: Nico (Jordi Vilches) goes to his best friend Dani's (Fernando Ramallo) summer home at a seaside town outside of Barcelona, Spain. The plan is to lose their virginity while Dani's parents are away; after all this is their 17th summer. Known as Krampack as it made the rounds of the film festival circuit last year, the new title of Nico and Dani is a better one to market the film. However, the former name was right on the money in describing in one word, the mental state of Nico and Dani and what they want in the immediate future. Krampack means "mutual masturbation" or "hand job."
Nico and Dani meet two attractive teen-age girls, Berta and Elena (Esther Nubiola and Marieta Orozco), who they are soon partying with. Things look like they could go the route of With a Friend Like Harry (where things are very different than they first appear), when the two boys drug the girls for a private party intended to result in sex. Nico and Elena seem to be on their way to "having a good time," while Dani is going through the motions with Berta, without the same passion he seems to have for
krampacking with Nico.
Young women do seem to have a sense of where they are with a level of maturity that boys don't possess. That is not meant as a put down for boys but rather a realization that girls, in general, are a tad more mature at the same biological age. Nico knows what he wants, but he must roll with the punches to satisfy himself as well as Elena.
Dani's situation is somewhat more complex. He meets a thirty-something writer, Julian (Chisco Amado), who challenges his gay leaning tendencies in a way that Nico does not. Sonia (Ana Gracia), a friend of Julian's, is Dani's astute tutor who senses what is going on in the household, when she finds the boys asleep in the bedroom. Marianne (Myriam Mezieres), the housekeeper, is a friendly confidante of the boys'. I enjoy the familiarity and respect with which these characters, adult and teen aged, treat each other. As we experience the sensations of how strong a single response of yes, no or maybe can affect your sexual identity in general and life in particular, this coming of age film has a message for teens as well as those of us who long ago came of age.
Tell Me More About It: This is one of those films that you know is above average as it plays itself out; you've seen something that is really real about coming of age. And if you're over 40…okay over 50, you are trying to remember the things you did and your state of emotions as you gained life-altering experiences regarding your self-confidence and sexual identity. At first blush Nico and Dani feels like a 3 or 3.5 star film, because it does not make strong, over the top, dramatic statements…it takes awhile for it to fully hit you. The more I think about it, it becomes a solid 4. It's soooo honest about young men and women regarding their heterosexual and homosexual thoughts, actions and relationships. There are numerous coming of age films which have more "joke and a wink" plots than this one, which fail at trying to get into the psyche of the teenaged men and women.
Just like Shrek is a great film for adults to take their young children to, this is a film that adults can take a teenager to, under the guise of it being subtitled, therefore a mature film about teenagers. Nico and Dani speaks to teenagers and adults about the same material; the former will be thinking about what they will do tomorrow and the latter will reflect on the choices they have made that now they must live with, for better or for worse.
The obvious is not always intuitive. At one point Nico is concerned about statutory rape because Elena is underage, until Dani makes him realize that since he too is underage, he's worrying about something that makes no difference. Young men apparently possess a "duh" factor gene that is a joy to watch. As a member of the male species I can't help but realize that I was kind of like that at one point and somehow I survived. Anything is possible.
DVD