This drama tells the hackneyed story of a lovelorn expatriate pulling himself together and dragging us around with him.
It doesn’t take long in “Granada Nights” before someone is sagely explaining the difference between a tourist and a traveler. A peevish university grad, Ben (Antonio Aakeel), is on the receiving end of this hoary conversation-starter, but he’s a bit distracted. He has journeyed from London to Granada, Spain, to surprise his girlfriend at her doorstep — something that people in movies should really avoid doing. When he realizes it’s over, what follows is a hackneyed story of a tedious, lovelorn expatriate, pulling himself together and dragging us around with him.
Ben falls in with an apparently wealthy crowd of European students who advise him on getting girls and appreciating Granada. Their pseudo-wisdom and party-on spirit elbow him to stop moping, take Spanish classes and flirt mechanically. But it’s grating to watch because of banal performances and a screenplay that’s like the dialogue equivalent of a temp track, as if the film is still awaiting an original perspective on this world to be filled in. (The travel/tourist acquaintance, incidentally, is played by up-and-comer Quintessa Swindell, but her character moves on quickly.)
Granada, a well-touristed city, sometimes makes for a picturesque backdrop, especially in a faded-looking opening montage that promises an elegance that the film doesn’t deliver. Over the course of the story, the writer and director, Abid Khan, also widens the film’s aspect ratio (starting with a trim, square frame). Maybe it’s meant to symbolize Ben’s broadening of understanding, but his journey largely feels so dull that you might want to take a different route.
Granada Nights
Not rated. In English, Spanish, Swedish and Urdu, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 25 minutes. Watch on Vudu, Google Play and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators.
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
