''The Man with Rain in His Shoes'' is a 1998 Spanish-British

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...

film, written by Spanish singer-songwriter Rafa Russo, directed by Spanish filmmaker María Ripoll (in her directing debut) and starring

Lena Headey Lena Kathren Headey ( ; born 3 October 1973) is a British actress. She gained international recognition and acclaim for her portrayal of Cersei Lannister on the HBO epic fantasy drama series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), for which she re ...

Douglas Henshall Douglas “Dougie” James Henshall (born 19 November 1965) is a Scottish television, film and stage actor. He is best known for his roles as Professor Nick Cutter in the science fiction series '' Primeval'' (2007–2011) and Detective Inspect ...

Penélope Cruz Penélope Cruz Sánchez (; ; born 28 April 1974) is a Spanish actress. Known for her roles in films of several genres, particularly those in the Spanish language, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British A ...

Mark Strong Mark Strong (born Marco Giuseppe Salussolia; 5 August 1963), is a British actor, best known for his film roles such as Prince Septimus in '' Stardust'' (2007), Archibald in ''RocknRolla'' (2008), Lord Henry Blackwood in ''Sherlock Holmes'' (20 ...

and

Elizabeth McGovern Elizabeth Lee McGovern (born July 18, 1961) is an American actress and musician. She has received many awards, including a Screen Actors Guild Award, three Golden Globe Award nominations, and one Academy Award nomination. Born in Evanston, Ill ...

with Paul Popplewell. The film was released under the titles ''Twice Upon a Yesterday'' in the United States and ''If Only...'' in France, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

Plot

Victor (Henshall) is an actor in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

who is desperate to stop his ex-girlfriend, Sylvia (Headey), to whom he was unfaithful, from marrying another man. After meeting two mysterious

dustmen A waste collector, also known as a garbageman, garbage collector, trashman (in the US), binman or (rarely) dustman (in the UK), is a person employed by a public or private enterprise to collect and dispose of municipal solid waste (refuse) and ...

, he is given the chance to travel back in time and relive his romance. However, he finds that things develop differently this time around—Sylvia has an affair with Dave (Strong), and she leaves him.

Cast

as Victor Bukowski *

as Sylvia Weld *

as Louise *

Charlotte Coleman Charlotte Ninon Coleman (3 April 1968 – 14 November 2001) was an English actress best known for playing Scarlett in the film ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'', Jess in the television drama '' Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit'', and her childhood ...

as Alison Hayes *

as Dave Summers *

Neil Stuke Neil Robert Stuke (born 22 February 1966 in Deal, Kent) is an English actor best known for his role of Matthew in the TV sitcom ''Game On'' and more recently for playing Billy Lamb in the BBC legal drama ''Silk''. Career Stuke played Matthew in ...

as Freddy *

as Diane * Inday Ba as Janice * Paul Popplewell as Simon *

Antonio Gil Antonio Gil Martínez (born 1965) is a Spanish actor. Gil has appeared in a number of international movies, including '' Chocolat'' (2000), ''The Merchant of Venice'', ''Quantum of Solace'' (2008), and most notable '' Risen'' (2016) playing the ro ...

as Director * Gustavo Salmerón as Rafael * Eusebio Lázaro as Don Miguel

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features songs performed by

Alpha Blondy Seydou Koné (; born January 1, 1953 in Dimbokro), better known by his stage name Alpha Blondy, is an Ivorian reggae singer and international recording artist. Many of his songs are politically and socially motivated, and are mainly sung in h ...

Nigel and Lewis Nigel ( ) is an English masculine given name. The English ''Nigel'' is commonly found in records dating from the Middle Ages; however, it was not used much before being revived by 19th-century antiquarians. For instance, Walter Scott published ...

Salif Keita Salif Keïta () (born 25 August 1949) is a Malian singer-songwriter, referred to as the "Golden Voice of Africa". He is a member of the Keita royal family of Mali. Biography Early life Salif Keita was born a traditional prince in the village o ...

, and Susana Martins. The film's writer Rafa Russo also performs his own composition "Friends Are Friends".

Awards

The film won Best Screenplay 1998 at the

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (WFF; french: le Festival des Films du Monde) was one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF (although the Toronto Interna ...

, the Gran Angular Award 1998 at the

Sitges - Catalan International Film Festival The Sitges Film Festival ( ca, Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, links=no) is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Spain, specialized in fantasy and horror films, of which it is considered one of the world's foremost in ...

and the Bronze Precolumbian Circle at the 1999 Bogota Film Festival.

References

External links