Release Date: February 27, 2004
Starring: Romola Garai, Diego Luna, Jonathan Jackson, Sela Ward, John Slattery, Mika Boorem
Directed by: Guy Ferland
Written by: Boaz Yakin, Victoria Arch
Distributed by: Lions Gate Films
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (sensuality)
Don’t mistake Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights for a sequel, or even a remake, of the 1987 romantic musical starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey. Director Guy Ferland and his team want you to call it a “re-imagining,” which is a bit of Hollywood semantics that is becoming increasingly tiresome, rather than an entirely separate classification. Just as the re-imagining of Planet of the Apes in 2001 and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in 2003 did for their respective source films, Havana Nights tries its hardest to capture the essence of the original while presenting it to a new generation of paying customers. This film also has a new cast of characters in a different setting. But the result is unexciting, as the Latin dance moves take complete precedence over a strong story and appealing characters (or lack of same).
The idea behind Havana Nights isn’t so bad. They keep the young and impressionable girl (Romola Garai) in the picture, as well as the suave but unlikely love interest (Diego Luna) who literally sweeps her off her feet with his incredible dance moves. Except this time the story is set in Cuba during revolutionary 1958, which makes for a potentially dramatic and extra-spicy scenario. Yet, the film plods dully along with only a few moments of genuine chemistry between the two stars and a clumsy story that can’t keep up with its impressively choreographed dance techniques.
You’re likely to find a few women who might have an interest in the film, but most seem to have little faith in its ability to recreate the passion of the original. (As for the men, we really have no say in the matter.) The skeptics are on to something: Even though the plot is considerably different, a sense of unoriginality remains. Similar to many romantic pictures, it’s possible to see each and every plot twist 30 minutes ahead of time. And when we’re hoping for the payoff at the end -- a truly pleasing resolution that has both young lovers winning a prestigious dance contest and living happily ever after -- it doesn’t really come. Although every charatcer is better off after the conclusion, there’s no sense of satisfaction because the entire story had been building up to a sexy climactic dance sequence that doesn’t even get halfway through itself before it’s interrupted by one of those nagging subplots we film critics are always begging directors to resolve.
Furthermore, Havana Nights is clearly living in the shadow of the original Dirty Dancing, which is all the more obvious with the inclusion of a small character played by Swayze himself. The character even has the same name, but the only allusion to the original Johnny Castle is his dance moves. (Any other references would have been preposterous, since this movie is set 30 years earlier than the first one.) He’s conveniently placed in the script to catch the eye of the lead actress and tell her about the dance contest coming up that could send her, her partner, and her partner’s penniless family to America. Swayze seems to get a kick out of showing up like this but his inclusion in the film is entirely unnecessary, especially when it turns out that he’s supposed to be one of the lead’s most influential mentors. That part should have been played by someone less distracting, and Swayze’s screen time should have been limited to a few seconds of dancing the tango in the background. Otherwise, it’s just plain gratuitous.
If nothing else, young actors Romola Garai and Diego Luna deserve credit for their physical performances. It’s when they’re in each other’s arms on the dance floor, twirling fluidly and looking deeply into each other’s eyes, that we most believe the romance between them. Outside of the dance clubs is when their chemistry is the weakest, because the scenarios and dialogue slip back into the boring stuff that we’ve all become tired of: the inanities easiest for romantic writers to script. We can only hear the story so many times of a girl breaking free from the clutches of her strict parents and conservative lifestyle to fall for the boy who can show her a new, exciting world, and this Dirty Dancing, without the dancing, would have been painfully monotonous.
Havana Nights could have been an interesting and even better twist on the 1987 film, but when director Ferland and company skimped on a decent story that possibility went south, and not to Cuba. What we have, then, is a romantic drama that, just like its stars, is hot on the dance floor but fades to a fizzle when it comes off.
-- Andy Zientek (zfilm@earthlink.net)