TORRENT 2: MISSION IN MARBELLA

2001, Spain, 99 mins. 35mm print courtesy Lolafilms and Ventura Entertainment.
Written and directed by Santiago Segura. Produced by Juan Dakas and Andrés Vicente Gómez. Original Music by Roque Baños, Joaquín Sabina and Santiago Segura. Photographed by Guillermo Granillo. Edited by Fidel Collados. Art Direction by José Luis Arrizabalaga, Biaffra, and Claudio Contreras. Costume Design by Lala Huete. Principal Cast: Santiago Segura (as José Luis Torrente), Gabino Diego (Cuco), Tony Leblanc (Mauricio Torrente), José Luis Moreno (Spinelli), Inés Sastre (Bella cantante), Arturo Valls (Fabrizio), Juanito Navarro (Alcalde de Marbella).


From a review by Mark Deming for the website All Movie Guide (www.allmovie.com), 2000:

Torrente, the thick-headed cop from the successful Spanish comedy Torrente: El Brazo Tonto De La Ley, is back on the beat in this sequel, which actually outdoes the low comedy of the first film. In his second go-round, Torrente (once again played by Santiago Segura, who also wrote and directed the film) has managed to squander his savings while enjoying life (and chasing women) in the resort town of Marbella, so he goes back to work, finding employment as a private detective, with dope-addled ne'er-do-well Cuco (Gabino Diego) signing on as his assistant. Through a series of misunderstandings, Torrente ends up crossing paths with Spinelli (Jose Luis Moreno), a corrupt international arms dealer, and when Spinelli threatens to blow up Torrente unless he receives a ransom of two billion pesetas, the bumbling skirt-chaser becomes the only man who can prevent the destruction. Torrente 2: Mision En Marbella features cameo appearances from a number of popular Spanish comics and television personalities; the first film was one of the biggest grossing homegrown features ever in Spain, and the sequel's box-office success led many to predict Torrente could become the subject of a long-running series.

From the website of Lolafilms (www.lolafilms.com):

Just when you thought Spanish cinema was getting better… along comes Torrente.

People read into Torrente in very different ways. To begin with, it was a very strong criticism of a specific type of Spaniard, the extremely fascist Spaniard, but then those same people saw Torrente as a hero. It was surprising to discover they could laugh at that and then other people regarded it completely devoid of irony. I'm very happy to hear the Brazilians, the English, and the Americans were laughing. On the festival circuit I realized that it wasn't a local phenomenon, that Torrente's wretchedness and pitifulness is universal!" says Segura of this phenomenon. Three years later he has come up with Torrente 2's tagline: "Never were second parts worse."

Torrente 2 was filmed on location in Marbella, which created a stir amongst the inhabitants. The film's publicist says: "Torrente is a social phenomenon. Santiago can't walk to the shops without getting mobbed. The excitement and expectation for Torrente 2 is unrivalled."