(2004) 2.5 Fred Beldin The producers of Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights have a shrewd strategy in remaking the original 1987 hit for a modern audience. The plot is essentially the same (good girl away from home meets bad boy, he teaches her to dance, and they fall in love despite parental objection) and follows a similar arc, ensuring that all the emotional buttons pushed by the prototype are touched upon again. Setting the new film in Cuba at the height of the Castro revolution helps camouflage the redundancy, and gives Havana Nights an ethnic flavor that makes room for an urban-oriented soundtrack from high-profile artists like Wyclef Jean, Mya, and Christina Aguilera. Indeed, the music in the film sounds entirely modern, produced with fat beats and even the occasional rap interlude, often negating the film's 1958 time frame. It doesn't matter, however, because for a lightweight musical, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights does just fine, with an attractive, appealing cast and lots of movement. The film rounds all the bases in record time, bringing leads Romola Garai and Diego Luna together within the first five minutes and painting each supporting character with a wide brush for instant identification. While director Guy Ferland dares to preface the story with "Based on true events," there isn't much history to be found, and often the impending revolution is forgotten among montage sequences of the two young lovers dancing on beaches and in nightclubs. The politics of the era are used mainly to establish a sense of conflict and tragedy for Luna's Xavier, who lost a father to the unjust government and is chastised by his firebrand brother for consorting with the Americans. So don't expect Havana Nights to get into any ideology, because all it wants to do is dance, which it does, constantly. Patrick Swayze pops up briefly to show Garai some steps and give her a pep talk on "facing her fears," Sela Ward is the mother who left her dream of professional dance behind to bear children, and the Cuban population is so hot-blooded that they do their dirty dancing everywhere, slithering against each other without shame through the streets with hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas providing the beat. The very predictability of Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights is its strongest asset, providing a low-impact love story for teenyboppers and romance novel readers. Anyone with an interest in Cuban history or expecting lots of authentic Latin music should probably steer clear.

Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights on AllMovie

Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004)

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Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights

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Adult Situations

genres

Romance

sub-genres

category

Feature

directed by

Guy Ferland

countries

USA

release date

February 27, 2004 (USA)

run time

86 min.

produced by

Miramax

released by

Artisan Entertainment, Lions Gate Fims, Miramax Films

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Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights

Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights

Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights

Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights

Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights

Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights

by Matthew Tobey synopsis

Not a sequel, not really a prequel, sort of a remake, more of a re-imagining, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights follows the blossoming love affair of young couple Katey (Romola Garai) and Javier (Diego Luna) against the backdrop of the Cuban Revolution in 1958. Katey is an American girl living in Cuba with her parents who meets Javier, a local. Javier takes Katey to a nightclub where he teaches her how to dance dirty Cuban-style. The two grow closer and closer, but when Castro takes over, Katey's parents decide to flee for the U.S., leaving Katey to make the ultimate decision. Tying the film together with the classic 1987 original is Patrick Swayze who reprises the role of Johnny Castle in a cameo.

characteristics

- Couple

- Cuba

- Dance-instructor

- Interracial/Cross-Cultural Romance

- Americans Abroad

- Nightclub

- Star-Crossed Lovers

- Cabaret

- Mothers And Daughters

- In The Mood For Love

- Girl

- American [nationality]

- Sibling Relationships

- Life-choices

- Revolt

related movies

AMERICANS ABROAD

STAR-CROSSED LOVERS

SIBLING RELATIONSHIPS

MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS