Sticks to the formula.
Havana Nights (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:105
Fresh:24
Rotten:81
Average Rating:4.3/10
Consensus: Cheesy, unnecessary remake.
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Genre: Dramas
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
Reviews for Havana Nights
Fritters away its dramatic punch with unrealized characters and a lackluster ending.
This reimagining of the recklessly melodramatic 1987 original is packed with flashy, taffeta silliness.
If you can't find a more scintillating brand of dirty to enjoy during your own nights (Helena or Hoboken), you're not trying very hard.
It's fluff that attempts to parse human suffering so that it doesn't appear to be fluff. . . meaning it's exploitive fluff.
Whenever conflict emerges in the belated Havana, you can be sure it'll be wrapped up before you can say 'Rumba.'
not a sequel nor a prequel (and it's certainly not equal) to the fondly remembered 1987 Patrick Swayze/Jennifer Grey summer romance
Although the first movie was appealing but silly, the remake (and that's all it is, the plot is basically the same) is largely pointless.
The original movie had shallow, stereotypical characters, a corny, predictable story and lots of high-energy dancing. The same goes for the sequel, although the characters are even a little shallower and the story a little cornier.
This homage-prequel wears both its heart and its self-awareness on its leotards, with such eagerness to please that it ultimately stumbles over itself trying to duplicate the original's rough magic.
[Garai and Luna] deliver the real emotion of a first love while remaining good examples for the tweenie crowd
[Luna] deserves a better co-star than Garai ... and a script that's more than a recycled 1950s programmer about star-crossed lovers from the wrong sides of the tracks.
Romola Garai and Diego Luna are fresh, sweet and likable, and Garai is vastly more sympathetic than Jennifer Grey in the 1987 original.
Its lack of punch and its simmering sexuality make it ideal for the pre-teen girl squad set; it’s lightweight fare even by musical standards.
Maybe I'm just a pushover. But I loved every corny, predictable minute of this sugary remake. It's called entertainment.
Nobody puts baby in the corner in the 1987 picture and nobody needs to put this baby on their to-see list.
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