El Niño (2014)

A small-time trafficker working in the Gibraltar Straits.

Director:

Daniel Monzón

Writers:

Jorge Guerricaechevarría, Daniel Monzón

Stars:

Luis Tosar, Jesús Castro, Eduard Fernández

13 wins & 38 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Luis Tosar	...	Jesús
Jesús Castro	...	Niño
Eduard Fernández	...	Sergio
Sergi López	...	Vicente
Bárbara Lennie	...	Eva
Jesús Carroza	...	Compi
Mariam Bachir	...	Amina
Juan Motilla	...	Manolo
Moussa Maaskri	...	Rachid
Saed Chatiby	...	Halil
Ian McShane	...	Inglés
María García	...	Marifé
Abel Mora	...	Hombre del Puerto
Ales Furundarena	...	Juez Instructor
Somaya Taoufiki	...	Amiga de Amina

Storyline

El Niño is a young boy who lives in La Línea de la Concepción, close to Rock of Gibraltar, repairing and testing motorboats. After a night of party with his friend El Compi, they meet Halil, a young Muslim who has an uncle, Rachid, a drug dealer. Convinced by El Compi, El Niño accepts to be a drug mule, crossing it from África to Spain in a motorboat. In the opposite side of the law is Jesús, a veteran police officer who, helped by his partner Eva, is looking for El Inglés, an important drug dealer who operates in the Rock of Gibraltar.

---

Plot Keywords:

gibraltar | two word title | drug trafficking | speedboat | 

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Spain France

Language:

Spanish Arabic English

Release Date:

29 August 2014 (Spain)

Also Known As:

9 mil

Filming Locations:

Gibraltar

Box Office

Budget:

€6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

€2,915,634 (Spain), 29 August 2014, Wide Release

Company Credits

Production Co:

Telecinco Cinema,Ikiru Films,Vaca Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

136 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Daniel Monzón was offered financing if he shot the movie in English but he refused because the story didn't make sense in English.

---

Connections

Referenced in Estrenos Críticos: Torrente 5, El Corredor del Laberinto... (2014)

---

Soundtracks

Niño sin miedo
Written by India Martínez, Riki Rivera and David Santisteban
Performed by India Martínez feat. Rachid Taha

User Reviews

Bland and uninspired

I went into this film having seen some of the directors other work. I loved "Celda 211" and the crazy adventure-fantasy "El Corazon del Guerrero" (absolute must see). So I had pretty high hopes.

I was however slightly disappointed. A pretty bland and in my opinion uninspired film. Yes, it had some great action sequences, even though I wouldn't go as far as to call this an action movie, and some great locations and visuals. But it was a pretty routine rise and fall story of a trio of young friends wanting to make it in the big boys business. For me it was lacking the tension this type of 'cops and criminals' film needs. An edge and rawness that "Celda 211" most definitely did have.

The best parts for me were amongst the policemen and -women. They were also the best played out and parts acted. Louis Tosar is always great and I hope we will (and already are) be seeing more of him in international productions. It was the young ones that didn't quite nail it. A trio of pretty simply written characters (even reminding me of early John Woo characters, like in "A Better Tomorrow"). The Halil character was just to young and innocent looking for the part, the overzealous Compi was the cliché dumb guy and sometimes pretty annoying and the steelblue eyed Nino didn't really have that many expressions and came over pretty wooden. Even when he meets and eventually courts the beautiful Amina, his demeanor doesn't change at all. All this plus an underused (permanently hidden behind sunglasses) Ian McShane made a potentially great story a disappointing view.

Comparable in subject matter but way more exhilarating are "The Business" and the recent "Gibraltar".