[I]t's an amiable diversion [for] those looking for a romantic movie that doesn't require too much from the audience...
Havana Nights (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:105
Fresh:24
Rotten:81
Average Rating:4.3/10
Consensus: Cheesy, unnecessary remake.
Theatrical Release:Feb 27, 2004 Wide
Box Office: $14,140,215
Synopsis:
Set against the decadent glamour and escalating danger of revolution-eve Cuba, Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights re-imagines the 1987 film phenomenon from an exciting new perspective. Havana Nights...
Set against the decadent glamour and escalating danger of revolution-eve Cuba, Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights re-imagines the 1987 film phenomenon from an exciting new perspective. Havana Nights tells a timeless story of a young woman's discovery of love, sensuality and independence - but with a sizzling style and rhythm all its own. In planning this new chapter in a beloved franchise, Artisan Entertainment and Miramax Films have put together a team of creative dynamos from worlds of film, music and dance. Among them: maverick independent producer Lawrence Bender (Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting); Academy Award® winning screenwriter Ron Bass (Rain Man, My Best Friend's Wedding); director Guy Ferland (TV's award-winning "The Shield"); choreographer Joanne Jansen; music industry legend Clive Davis, whose hot new J Records imprint will release the soundtrack; acclaimed actor Diego Luna, a rising star following his performance in the sexy sensation Y Tu Mamá También; and, in what promises to be a breakout role, gifted young actress Romola Garai (recently seen in Nicholas Nickleby). The resulting film is certain to give audiences - from newcomers to those who cherish the first Dirty Dancing - the time of their lives, and then some.
Havana: November, 1958. 18-year-old Katey Vendetto (Romola Garai) brings an innate curiosity and a smattering of Spanish to her new life in Cuba's lush capital, where her father has taken an executive posting at Chrysler. Schooled by her parents in the art of ballroom dancing, Katey is expected to join the smart set of American teenagers who are the Vendettos' neighbors at the exclusive Hotel Miramar. But Katey finds herself drawn instead to the proud, purposeful Xavier (Diego Luna), a pool boy who also happens to be brilliant dancer. Determined to learn the slinky, spectacular moves that Xavier seems to know in his bones, Katey persuades him to partner with her in a prestigious national dance competition at a local country club. Meeting secretly in an out-of-the-way Havana nightclub, Katey and Xavier practice their steps, their bodies aligning in a sensual harmony that mirrors the growing passion between them. As the night of the contest finally arrives, Katey and Xavier are ready to take their place as a couple on the dance floor - unaware that the country club, and the streets of Havana itself, are about to erupt in revolutionary violence. -- © Artisan Entertainment
Starring: Diego Luna, Romola Garai, Patrick Swayze, John Slattery
Starring: Diego Luna, Romola Garai, Patrick Swayze, John Slattery, Sela Ward, Mika Boorem
Director: Guy Ferland
Director: Guy Ferland
Screenwriter: Boaz Yakin, Victoria Arch
Producer: Lawrence Bender, JoAnn Jansen, Sarah Green
Studio: Artisan Entertainment
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Reviews for Havana Nights
Missing the spark of the original...the only way this movie is going to be the 'time of your life' is if something wonderful happens to you on the way home from the theatre.
You'll find the hokey material in Havana Nights strangely familiar, but it doesn't matter.
The politics of Havana Nights are as simplistic and naive as the story.
The salsa routines are fittingly sultry, but not nearly torrid enough to redeem the leaden dialogue and labored emoting that surround them.
The music could be better, the story could be better, the dancing could be better and the casting could be better.
Garai is so wooden that she elicits more snickers from audiences than anything else.
The movie made me smile. The stars have genuine charm, and the script is smarter about their relationship than one might expect.
Its depressing just how much worse you could do, especially when a Bad Boys sequel has more of a Cuban revolution than this film.
With its likable young couple, Caribbean locales and great Cuban music, Havana Nights knocks the original Dirty Dancing off the dance floor.
The course of history is plotted alongside a bland Hollywood romance.
Garai is lovely and sensitive, but Luna ... sparks their relationship with a radiant personality and a killer smile when they dance.
The film's chief problem is that Garai and Luna lack the sparks of Grey and Swayze.
A pointless enterprise that desperately tries without success to recreate whatever it was that made the 1987 original a sensation.
Feels very much like a rush job -- it's in so much of a hurry, in fact, that even the dancing suffers.
Relative newcomers Luna and Garai are fairly convincing in their dancing scenes, but it's hard to disguise the fact that they have little, if any, real romantic chemistry.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 83% 83% | Harry Potter and the H… |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 75% 75% | Julie & Julia |
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
| 49% 49% | Taking Woodstock |
| 26% 26% | The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard |
| 47% 47% | The Girl From Monaco |
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