That was an excellent one.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Friendship is important. Especially to the characters in this film. They may not be wealthy or have good job. But they have each other and that's all that matters to them. This is a story of the lives of a few friends in Spain and their struggle with unemployment.Everything about it felt realistic and down to Earth. The dialogue was full of funny banters and snappy answers. It's an optimistic yet at the same time a tragic story. The emotions are all balanced very well. The actors all do a fantastic jobs, especially Bardem (which goes without saying, it's to be expected). Although it's not just his show, everyone has a moment to shine.If you like realistic dramas were there's nothing too complicated going or if you're just a fan of Neorealism, then I would recommend this one for you.

A title like MONDAYS IN THE SUN (LOS LUNES AL SOL) is misleading. It leads the potential viewer, also called a cinema buff, to believe he or she is going to witness something brimming with life and love and laughter -- something that incites a walk down memory lane, like AMARCORD or something. It's the equivalent of a delicately laid-out trap that has lovely pansies and gardenias but hides a black hole in which not even hope can emerge. See, this is the cheerful story of some down-and-out working-class men who find themselves unemployed. Of course, like most unemployed men, they make great strides to remedy the situation: they drink, they reminisce, they drink some more, they brood, they talk, they drink, they brood and reminisce and reminisce until all you have is one big fat essay on the Art of Stagnancy.True, I know and am fully aware that all realities were not created equal. Some people fight to come out of their situation -- as dire as it may seem -- and even though the road to success from the bottom of the pit might be rather bumpy, they triumph through perseverance. These men -- played by Javier Bardem and Luis Tosar in lead roles -- come across as whiners who would rather do as little as possible and moan about their inability to get ahead. At least, Tosar's character has a little more plausibility: his wife is now the breadwinner which besmirches his own masculinity (and for anyone unaware of Spanish culture, a man's machismo is everything), and the scene where he blows it for her when she goes to a bank to apply for a loan is all too real. It's quiet, it's tense, it's the essence of what destroys a marriage that is now on uneven grounds.LOS LUNES AL SOL is flawed by its own Neo-Realist approach to a subject such as unemployment, but denies its characters the possibility of coming through by making them escapist slobs. There is one moment of devastating horror and it happens twice: one of the men's wives has left (purportedly on an extended vacation). He holds on to the illusion she will return. Bardem takes the friend home who is too drunk to make it alone and realizes his friend is much worse off than any of them thought. It's a grim reality, to see that this is what these men's lives are worth -- abandonment and the inability to cope with reality -- and the best moment of the entire film. However, despite this powerful message, LOS LUNES AL SOL runs too long and is too plodding to sustain its weight, which is heavy.

The Spanish film committee that chose this film over Pedro Almodovar's "Talk to her" to represent that country in the best foreign film at the Oscars, made a terrible a blunder. The rest is history: Hollywood preferred to honor the wronged man, and no one ever heard about this movie. It didn't get a commercial run in the United States, as far as I'm concerned, because it is a film that outside Spain has no great appeal.This film reminded me of a day at "Cheers", the Boston bar where the TV series took place, but without one iota of humor. The atmosphere is so bleak that it depresses the viewer as this heavy tale the director, together with his screen writer, decides to present us about unemployment in Northern Spain. There is such a gloom in this film as in no other film in recent memory. A lighter tone would have greatly improved this static film.The film, as directed by Fernando Leon, shows not a ray of hope for these idled workers who spend their days at the bar where they are able to get drinks on credit while they wait for better days. This bunch prefer to stay in a state of limbo rather than going away from the area where unemployment is rampant. They all complain how about the Koreans are making better and cheaper ships while having their drinks and seeing the world passing them by without even the least amount of worry about what tomorrow would bring. On top of that, the film feels false from beginning to end.Javier Bardem, with his rugged face, is the leader of this pack. His Santa is a man with a lot of pain and resentment, yet he prefers to bask in the sun rather than going to work and stop feeling sorry for himself. Luis Tosar is Jose who has his own demons to deal with. He is a coward who feels threatened by a wife who has her feet on the ground. Jose Angel Egido and Nieve de Medina are good in their roles.This movie is a painful reminder of what is wrong with the film industry in Spain, as well as other European countries that had seen better times. Everyone is ready to denounce Hollywood and the American film industry as the culprit for their decline. But just think about planning a Saturday night dinner and going to the movies for a relaxing time, if the selection was "Monday in the Sun", please prepare the Alka-Seltzer for the indigestion afterward!We hope director Leon lightens up for his next opus.

I watch 'Mondays in the sun' last night and it impressed me really... Sorry guys but I usually prefer European-especially Mediterranean ones- movies much more than Hollywood productions... Like some of the others, there is a simple story there but very sincere and sensitive, that makes you feel deep inside...After watching any movie, I would like to feel the taste for some days...Sometimes you can easily forget what you have watched in several hours, but those kind of movies makes me feel something warm deep inside even it's dramatic athmosphere... Also the soundtrack is wonderful... For me it is a five-star production... Thanks so much for all who made it... (A+)