Winning Streak (film)
| Winning Streak | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Eduard Cortés |
| Produced by |
Daniel Hernández Loris Omedes |
| Written by |
Eduard Cortés Piti Español |
| Starring |
Daniel Brühl Lluís Homar Miguel Ángel Silvestre Eduard Fernández Blanca Suárez |
| Music by | Micka Luna |
| Cinematography | David Omedes |
| Edited by | Koldo Idígoras |
Production company | |
| Distributed by |
Sony Pictures Releasing Film Factory Entertainment |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | Spain |
| Language |
Spanish French Mandarin |
| Box office | $1,969,150 (Spain) |
Winning Streak (Spanish: The Pelayos) is a 2012 Spanish comedy-drama film directed by Eduard Cortés. It stars an ensemble cast that includes Daniel Brühl, Lluís Homar, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Eduard Fernández and Blanca Suárez. It is based on the exploits of the García-Pelayo family.
The film premiered on 21 April 2012 at the 15th Málaga Film Festival.[1]
Plot
Gonzalo García Pelayo (Lluís Homar) has been trying for years to work out a system to legally win money in a local casino, which is run by the infamous The Beast (Eduard Fernández). When he realizes he has succeeded in doing so, using a system based on wheel bias, he drags his family in to help — son Iván (Daniel Brühl), daughter Vanessa (Marina Salas), their cousins Marcos (Oriol Vila) and muscle-bound Alfredo (Miguel Ángel Silvestre), and family friend Balón (Vicente Romero).
Driven by Ivan’s desire to give his father a decent old age, the gang sets to work, at first unsuccessfully. But when they start winning, the Beast’s suspicions are aroused, and he puts a private detective onto them. Alfredo compromises the plan by getting involved with croupier Ingrid (Blanca Suárez), who is summarily fired by the Beast. Next, Iván starts a romance with Chinese wild girl Shui (Hui Chi Chiu), whose friends turn out to be quite handy later on.
Cast
- Daniel Brühl as Iván
- Lluís Homar as Gonzalo García Pelayo
- Miguel Ángel Silvestre as Alfredo
- Eduard Fernández as The Beast
- Oriol Vila as Marcos
- Vicente Romero as Balón
- Blanca Suárez as Ingrid
- Marina Salas as Vanessa
- Huichi Chiu as Shui
Release
Winning Streak premiered at the 15th Málaga Film Festival on 21 April 2012,[1] and began its theatrical run in Spain on 27 April 2012. The film was also released in theatres in Russia and Poland, and in Canada it was shown at both the Ottawa European Union Film Festival—on 16 November 2012—and the Vancouver European Union Film Festival on 23 November 2013. It was released straight-to-DVD in Brazil, Germany, Greece and Japan.[2]
The film was on the program of the 2014 edition of Thailand's EU Film Festival, shown in the cities of Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai and Bangkok. Advertised as The Pelayos, the film was one of seven films that were shown in all three cities.[3]
Reception
Critical response
The film received mixed to negative reviews from film critics. Jonathan Holland of the Variety wrote, "Ocean's Eleven tries to become a Hispanic Magnificent Seven in Winning Streak a disappointingly straight-ahead take on one family’s high-risk attempt to get rich by beating the casinos. Despite its terrific real-life storyline, a couple of fine perfs and slick visuals, the pic stumbles in its eagerness to please all comers, failing to generate much real tension and leaving its characters as flat as poker chips".[4] Sonia Sanz of Cultture.com criticized actors Daniel Brühl, Lluís Homar, Oriol Vila, Eduard Fernández and Blanca Suárez for their "underwhelming" performances, and called the film itself "disappointing".[5] Emilio Luna of the El Antepenúltimo Mohicano gave the film a rather negative review and awarded it with four out of ten stars.[6]
In a more positive review of the film, Patrick Mullen of Cinemablographer.com wrote, "Brühl and Homar’s work is worth noting since they manage to draw out characters that don’t seem to be part of the film’s thin script. [...] Winning Streak is a fun little caper all the same, slight as it may be. Winning Streak probably won’t break the bank, but it should at least break even", and gave the film three out of five stars.[7]
Awards and nominations
| Award | Category | Nominated | Result | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gaudí Awards | Best Production Manager | Eduard Vallès | Won | [8] |
| Best Art Direction | Balter Gallart | Nominated | ||
| Best Cinematography | David Omedes | Nominated | ||
| Best Film not in the Catalan Language | Winning Streak | Nominated | ||
| Málaga Film Festival Awards | Best Film Editing | Koldo Idígoras | Won | [9] |
| Neox Fan Awards | Best Film Actress | Blanca Suárez | Won | [10] |
| Best Film | Winning Streak | Nominated |
References
- 1 2 "Arranca el festival de cine de Málaga con 'The Pelayos', un 'Ocean's eleven' a la española". 20 minutos (in Spanish). 21 April 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ↑ "Release Info for Winning Streak (2012)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ↑ "Showtimes EU Film Festival 2014". SFX Cinemas. SFX Cinemas. 23 May 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
- ↑ Holland, Jonathan (11 May 2012). "Winning Streak". Variety. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ↑ Sanz, Sonia (27 April 2012). "Crítica de 'The Pelayos': sobredosis de guaycismo y fallo en el ritmo". Cultture.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ↑ Luna, Emilio (10 May 2012). "The Pelayos (Eduard Cortés, 2012)". El Antepenúltimo Mohicano (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ↑ Mullen, Patrick (18 November 2012). "EUFF Review: 'Winning Streak'". Cinemablographer.com. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ↑ "Las películas participadas por TVE se alzan con 11 galardones en la V edición de los Premios Gaudí". TVE (in Spanish). 4 February 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ↑ "Así fue el Festival de Málaga de 2012" (PDF). Málaga Film Festival (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ↑ "Paco León, Mario Casas, David Bustamante, Auryn y Blanca Suárez, ganadores de los Neox Fan Awards". Formula TV (in Spanish). 24 October 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2013.