Whoever claims that your high school years are the happiest must be from another planet. Adolescence is full of self-doubts, fears, experimentation, and raging hormones. Those bumbling, awkward years are often embarrassing and painful to recall, but also make up some of the strongest memories. The inner world of this teen universe is captured nicely in Cesc Gay's coming of age drama, Nico and Dani (Krampack), a Spanish language film focussing on two 17-year old boys.

Friends since grade school, Nico (Jordi Vilches) arrives in Barcelona to visit Dani (Fernando Ramallo) at his parents' beach house for an eventful ten day stay. Dani's parents have just left for a summer vacation to Egypt, so the two teens have the large Mediterranean house to themselves, with only a cook and Dani's private tutor, Sonia, (Ana Gracia) to check in on them.

So what do 17-year old boys (both virgins) left to their own devices talk about and do? Fantasizing about girls and screwing is on Nico's mind from the start—they initially talk about girls while practicing mutual masturbation. The sexual experimentation will escalate.

Nico examines his Adam's apple, which he believes is a sign of his manhood and something that will attract the girls. Humorously emphasizing his Adam's apple when the two boys first meet Elena (Marieta Orozco) and her cousin Berta (Esther Nubiola), Nico goes for Elena, leaving Berta to pair off with Dani. But he doesn't have much interest—he'd much rather be alone with Nico fishing and hunting. The more introspective Dani expresses his frustration about only spending time with the girls, but at least he has the nighttime with his friend for sexual play.

A major strength of the film lies in its ability to observe the characters struggle without judgment. Representing the mature adult point of view is Sonia, who senses Dani's budding sexuality while recognizing his dreams and talent for writing. She happens to have a writer friend (Chisco Amado as Julian) in his thirties, who happens to be gay, and they all end up at a dinner party together. She recognizes that Julian can serve as an ideal mentor but warns him against taking advantage of the teen. So how will Julian react when Dani makes a blatant pass at him? To the film's credit Julian doesn't deny his attraction to the awkward teen's advances, and treads the line very tactfully. Sonia acts as mature viewers should, recognizing Dani's worth and wanting him to come to grips with himself and his sexuality.

It's just as plain that Nico makes no moral judgments against his friend either. Clearly, Nico sees the sexual experimentation as something mechanical, detachedly asking Nico to "not go so fast—it hurts" while Dani continually pushes the boundaries. Although Nico doesn't share the same internal feelings, he doesn't put his friend down as a "fag." Midway through, there's a telling scene with Nico pretending to sleep while passively allowing Dani to affectionately drape his arm over him. Can they maintain the friendship after the "gay" and "straight" lines are drawn more definitively?

In true European style, the film makes no definitive moralistic wrap up, not striving to solve all the loose ends and leaving much for the viewer to decide. Nico and Dani is far more interested in creating a brief turning point in the boys' lives and allowing them to explore their characters and psyches.

It works to a great degree, largely due to the casting and acting of the two leads. Deliberately selected because of their body types, the two twenty-year-olds come across believably as 17-year olds at an awkward crossroads.

Fernando Ramallo, the more experienced actor of the two with seven screen credits prior to this project, brings quiet subtlety to his role. The furtive looks and measured responses he gives capture the awkwardness of adolescent sexual awakening, and he communicates his painful longing quite well when attempting to connect with Nico. It's a surprise that his introspective character comes on as strong as he does towards the middle aged writer, but that's more a scripting item rather than an acting issue.

Even though the film remains primarily about Ramallo's character, Jordi Vilches balances out his quieter partner with a natural outgoing comic flair. He's the guy who carries off the strip tease dance, does the back flips to impress the girls, makes the first moves on the girl, and expresses amazement in his face. Being more outwardly expressive, makes Vilches' impassive face during the sexual exploration communicate the appropriate tone. For a relatively gawky kid, he carries his scenes admirably.

Nico and Dani isn't perfect, but the character-driven film certainly stands superior to other gay coming of age films like Beautiful Thing and Get Real, which seem forced and manipulative in comparison.

Come to think of it, the label the film receives as a "gay" film is a misnomer and may scare off some of its intended audience. Sexual confusion certainly remains central, but sexual scenes are all composed tastefully, and larger themes of sexuality and how it affects friendship override individual scenes. This film deftly explores that most awkward time in a teenager's life. Call it a "relationship" movie to get someone on the fence to check it out, but deep down we already realize the adolescent mind is mired in sex. We've all been there.