User reviews

(1991) Fires Within DRAMA

A love triangle among three people, between a young Cuban woman, Isabel (Greta Schacci) who has one child, her rescuer, Sam (Vincent D'Onofrio) the skipper of the vessel he used to save her on, and her actual Cuban husband, Nestor (Jimmy Smits) who once was a political prisoner, and was had just been let go and chooses to move to Miami, Florida so that he can be closer to his wife and child after spending 8 years in solitary confinement locked in a Cuban prison. I liked this film upon watching it for the first time, but upon watching it again when i got the DVD version, the impact was not the same as I saw it back in the 1990's .

Isabel (Greta Scacchi) is a Cuban refugee who escaped with her daughter to Miami, but was forced to leave behind her husband Nestor (Jimmy Smits). Nestor was taken prisoner by Fidel Castro's communist government and has not seen his family since. Sam (Vincent D'Onofrio), a young fisherman, saves Isabel and her daughter from a raft and the two fall for each other. Years later, Nestor escapes Cuba and arrives in Miami, eager to see his former family. Not only must Isabel choose between her estranged husband and her intense, somewhat frightening American lover, Nestor is being pestered by politically motivated Cubans who want him to continue working against Castro.

The story to this film is a promising tale of torn romance. What makes it better than most is that there are too choices which must be made: Isabel's choice between mild mannered and familiar Nestor or the short tempered Sam, and Nestor's choice between his wife and his country. This is ruined, however, by choppy editing and a whole slough of unnecesary sex scenes. I'm sure the director must be saddened to see her work turned into some marginal picture about a woman who the editors turned into a mindless f***-doll.

Scacchi's performance was very real and convincing, making the poor editing all the more unfortunate. Smits, who is quite a talented actor, seems like he must have been sick or something while they were filming, because he's sort of like a zombie in this movie; no fire seems to burn within him (pun intended). D'Onofrio gives another extreme performance which is good for people like me who enjoy what critics call "over acting". Good premise, but ruined in the cutting room. Worth watching once.

Beautiful film that is skewered not only by the distracting editing, as your previous commentator mentions, but also by the confused message...anti-Castro Cubans in the USA are numerous, but we have learned - often from the movies, like Scarface or that excellent film about a gay Cuban poet who flees Cuba - that there are many ambiguities in that life - they are simplified and reduced here too much. Isabel is very passive and perhaps traumatised to an extent that is not really illuminated. it is a terrific idea that the Cuban husband is a mild-mannered type and that the American who saved her from the sea is hot - interesting to watch; in fact, also, it is the American (d'Onofrio) who makes the point of the film, that is so under-stated and ambivalent - that the Cuban husband must choose between politics and his family. the film is interesting and exasperatingly under-stated. this could have been developed into something far more intriguing - one other good point: it is fascinating to see Hispanic Miami in all its glamour and tawdriness, however. overall, the film is really underdeveloped.

...And I'm sorry to see the disappointed reviews here, but I'm not terribly surprised. It was originally titled Little Havana, but Robert Redford was going to release Havana, so Alan Ladd (Jr.) had our title changed-at first, to Distant Shores, which was its name all through the rest of production. It was much later I learned it was changed again to Fires Within. I've never seen the film all the way through, but I think I'll check it out now after reading these comments. FWIW, I had the time of my life on this show. Never had so much fun on any other job before or after. Everyone was wonderful, even AD Mark Edgerton, who yelled at me more than anyone ever had, and gave me a beautiful Hoffritz Swiss Army knife at the end of my time on the show. Wonderful memories for me, sorry everyone seems disappointed in the film. It goes to show you, a bad film is every bit as much work and effort as a good one.