''8 Dates'' () is a 2008 Spanish comedy film written and directed by Peris Romano and

Rodrigo Sorogoyen Rodrigo Sorogoyen del Amo (born 16 September 1981) is a Spanish film director and screenwriter. After co-helming the sketch comedy film '' 8 Dates'' with Peris Romano in 2008, Sorogoyen has directed the features ''Stockholm'' (2013), '' May God ...

which features an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to the po ...

of actors.

Plot

The plot, split in 8 parts, concerns about 8 romantic vignettes depicting the evolution of 8 couple relationships.

Cast

Production

The screenplay was penned by the helmers Peris Romano and Rodrigo Sorogoyen. The film was produced by Impala and Tesela and it had the participation of TVE and

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

. Shooting locations included the

province of Segovia Segovia () is a province of central/northern Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the province of Burgos in the north, Soria in the northeast, Guadalajara in the east, Madrid in the south, ...

Release

The film was selected for the

Málaga Film Festival The Málaga Festival, formerly Málaga Spanish Film Festival (FMCE), is an annual film festival held in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain. The festival was established to promote Spanish cinema and help disseminate information about Spanish films. Since ...

's official selection, premiering on 10 April 2008. Distributed by Alta Classics, it was theatrically released in Spain on 18 April 2008.

Reception

Jonathan Holland of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' deemed the film to be "an above-average if over-derivative Spanish laffer" which "has fun written all over it and contains more than its share of astute observational comedy, but too often mistakes laffs for the merely absurd". Irene Crespo of ''

Cinemanía ''Cinemanía'' is a monthly film magazine based in Madrid, Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost po ...

'' rated the film 2½ out of 5 stars, comparing it to a mix of ''

Love Actually ''Love Actually'' is a 2003 Christmas film, Christmas romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The film features an ensemble cast, composed predominantly of British actors, many of whom had worked with Curtis in previous pro ...

'' and ''

Escenas de matrimonio Escenas de Matrimonio was a series broadcast by the Spanish television network, Telecinco, produced by Alba Adriatica. It premiered on 1 August 2007, featuring the lives of various couples who live in the same building dealing with similar probl ...

'', considering that the hook consisting of the extended cast full of known faces "gets lost along the way and soon

he film He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

falls into cliché, clumsy and predictable love situations".

References