Too much of everything

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Well, I like this movie. Filmed in Puerto Rico though? Nothing against Puerto Rico because I love it there. I just wish it was filmed in Havana, Cuba considering the title, but I guess we weren't allowed to film there in 2004. Oh well! But there's a song on the soundtrack that I want to hear again. I can't figure out the name of it, but I've heard a version of it before. I'm guessing the song is mixed unusually, but I really liked it. I'll have to research all the songs. I wasn't expecting to see Patrick Swayze in this one, but I was pleasantly surprised. He's just a natural born dancer, a very good one as well. Even though there's a competition near the end of this movie and it doesn't have the outcome I was expecting, it was still a pretty good flick.

I have never had a worse cinematic experience than I had with this movie. You may think I am exaggerating to some degree, but assure you not, I am serious. This is possible one of the most clichéd, worst acted, worst written movies in all of cinematic history. Why this movie was even made is beyond me, but the people who made it deserved to be fired, burned at a stake and to be never let back into movie making. This movie literally caused me pain while I watched it. This can't even be considered a movie. This is a masterpiece. A masterpiece of failure. How do you manage to make something this bad? I sure have no idea.Think about this. This movie got greenlit. Someone pitched this movie to a studio, and they bought it. For real money!I should probably mention the plot of this movie. You can't really call it a plot though. It's more of what happens when literature dies, when all creativity is lost. It is so cliché filled that even a baby could predict the plot. It's about a generic ugly duckling girl who meets the man of her dreams when they move to Cuba during the crisis. Why they decided to place the plot there is beyond me, when this plot would work in literally every setting. Please, don't watch this movie. Save yourself from the pain that it will cause. If you have a copy, burn it.

It's 1958, high school senior Katey Miller (Romola Garai) follows her family (John Slattery, Sela Ward, Mika Boorem) to pre-revolutionary Cuba. They're staying in a fancy exclusive hotel. She bumps into local waiter Javier Suarez (Diego Luna) and eventually befriends him.There are great actors at work here. I love the location shoot in Puerto Rico. The story is strictly fantasy cheese. It doesn't have the fun and charm of the original namesake. It's better than expected but not anything great. The one thing that does stand out is that Romola Garai is quite a big tall gal. Diego Luna is barely taller than her, and he's definitely skinnier. It's a different feel to the franchise.

Romola Garai did a bad job on the American accents. Few times I could hear the British accent slip through. The scene on the beach where she tell Javier that he was making a different to his family, could hear the English accent coming through plus the scene when she telling Patrick Swayze she trying to feel free and dancing like an Iron board was bad. A few times she let slip up when trying American accent. The plot of the film was weak. The dancing was crap. I didn't like the mixing of modern music with the 1950s style setting that spoiled the movie. The ending of the movie was bad. The only good thing was the Cuban music in the film. As for Luna dancing skills he wasn't very convincing dancer since he and Romola only had ten week's lessons before shooting the movie. The other dancers in the movie showed up Luna lack of dancing skills