User reviews

This exciting story is set in the 90s , during the economic boom and subsequent crisis, dealing with two different and contender siblings, a peculiar duo of antagonist brothers , a good guy , the wealthy insurance representative Carlos Lobo : Carlos Hipolito and a bad guy Antonio, Tony, Lobo : the hustler and swindler played by Juanjo Puigcorbe. Meanwhile, both of whom attempt to sell insurances and living a triangular love story with the wife, Julia Cañas, Lydia Bosch.

This is a dramedy , a first part is more comedy than drama , second part is mostly drama, relying heavily on a loving triangle and an interesting sibling confrontation . A Cain and Abel tale in which two brothers become involved into a complex and troublesome relationship throughout the Catalan coast while selling insurances and the confrontation among 2 siblings for a woman . Trio protaganist is pretty good, such as Carlos Hipolito as the sensible and responsible Carlos , Juanjo Puigcorbe as the selfish and vagrant Antonio and Lydia Bosch as the disconcerting spouse Julia . Support cast is frankly well, such as Juan Echanove, Roberto Cairo, Walter Vidarte, Chema Muñoz and brief cameos by Jordi Molla and Pedro Casablanc .

It contains an evocative and colorful cinematography by the prestigious Flavio Martinez Laviano. And atmospheric musical score in synthesizer composed by Bingen Mendizabal .And an agreeable screenplay plenty of surprises by the notorious writer Joaquin Oristell, usual collaborator to Barroso . Being professionally produced by director Fernando Colomo . From now on , a generation of filmmakers of the 90s will finance new directors to make attractive films. The motion picture was well directed by Mariano Barroso in his film debut and it had awesome critics . It won Goya best new director : Mariano Barroso and nominated Best supporting actor Juan Echanove. And Sant Jordi awards to Best new director and best actor Juanjo Puigcorbe. Barroso started working as an advert director, and debuts with this Mi Hermano del alma . He is a nice craftsman who has made a few good films, such as : Extasis , Todas las mujeres , Lo mejor de Eva, Kasbah and Hormigas en la boca, Lobos de Washington , at his best . Nowadays, he directs TV series as El dia del mañana and La linea invisible . Rating : acceptable and passable

The first scenes are set in some deserted beach along the east coast of Spain, perhaps in the late 70's, early 80's. Toni, the not-so-well-behaved brother is left abandoned there by his brother Charli and Toni's girlfriend Julia. Ten years later, Charli is a successful insurance salesman, and he´s married to Julia. They never heard from Toni, until one day, by chance, they come across each other. Toni is as wild as ever, an aged delinquent, who will later find out he's got a terminal leukemia. Thats when Charli tries to give his brother's life some purpose, and to make up for lost time. The leit-motiv of this movie is the dicotomy good/evil between the two brothers. Charlie, the hard worker whose soul was long lost to his company's commercial objectives. Toni's conscience works in strange ways, allowing him to save an old man's life but also to steal his wallet. Although it's not a masterpiece, it's a well worth watching movie, especially for the actors performances and for the beautiful sets in the spanish "Costa Brava".