Dirty Dancing 2

'Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights' is surprisingly watchable.

I was expecting a rather tame and boring return to the world of 'Dirty Dancing', though it actually produces a fine dance romance flick. Of course compared to the excellent and far superior original it is a downgrade, but for what it is I had a decent time watching.

Romola Garai and Diego Luna have solid enough chemistry onscreen, while John Slattery offers firm support. Sela Ward is alright, not helped by how the makers chose to portray her character - Jeannie becomes quite irredeemable at one point, with the film's attempts to 'fix' that totally failing to convince. That's about it for cast positives, though it was neat to see a familiar face from the 1987 flick appear.

The dance and Cuban revolution parts of the story don't mesh amazingly, a bit forced perhaps, but all in all I'd say they just narrowly made it work. I will say the dancing numbers and soundtrack aren't as good as they could've/should've been, yet I did still appreciate a few bits of music: the intro piece and the use of Wyclef Jean's 'Dance Like This', I never knew until now that that latter track was the original of Shakira's 'Hips Don't Lie' - you learn something new every day!

The film is mindless escapism. But Romola Garai is the one to watch. She has starred in three major releases abroad: Daniel Deronda, Kate Nickleby and I Capture the Castle. Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, a film that was obviously anticipated for box office weakness; else why tie to a 17 year old film? But it helped to mainstream Romola Garai in American and will undoubtedly serve as a stepping stone toward larger and better projects. It is a shame that American tend not to view British film making on the whole. Take Lord of the Rings and Peter Pan and Underworld as examples; carefully crafted, wonderful cinematography. But I digress. Keep Romola Garai in a mind's eye view for what she will accomplish later on.

Normally, I avoid these kind of films as romantic movies aren't my cup of tea or coffee. However, while i was working, the movie was playing and I was captured by the beauty of Romola Garai. So I decided to watch the film. There were some great foot-tapping songs and the dances were fairly good too. There's nothing like dancing with a beautiful woman (who can dance too). The film itself is quite okay, nothing outstanding. The lead pair Diego Luna and Romola Garai share a nice chemistry. Not only is Garai beautiful but she can act too as she delivers a sincere performance. Diego Luna does his part well although in a few scenes he does seem to have difficulty with some expressions. Sela Ward is alright in a minuscule part. Ditto for Patrick Swayze's cameo.To sum it up, what I liked about it was Romola Garai, the soundtrack and the dances.

I loved this movie! It was really good. Yes it was a chick flick and a teen movie, but it was SO good and romantic! Javier (Luna) was SO hot and good. The way his body moved was amazing! The only reason I rated this movie a 9 was because I didn't like the way it ended. I thought it could have been done a little differently. But I still went out and bought the DVD!! This may sound a little crazy, but almost every night I watch it! If I could learn to dance the way they do...I would pay to learn how to dance so Cuban! It was a really good, adorable, romantic, and dramatic Movie. It had everything and more that I like to see in a movie. Many people say that they didn't like it but, I thought it was awesome.

Katey moves to Havana with her family in 1958. Her family expect her to date a rich buy, but then she meets the Cuban waiter Javier, he introduces her to the sensual Cuban dance'n'music. When he loses his job, indirectly because of Katey, she asks her to enter and win a dancing competition with her, so that he can take his family to America. They meet secretly and dance right in each others hearts! When the revolution breaks out, the young couple tries to prove that their love is worth fighting for. I would have liked them to just call it Havana Nights, instead, because many people have high expectations about it because of the title. If you liked the first Dirty Dancing you will love this. It is a beautiful movie about how dancing brings to young people together and mix the afro-Cuban rhythms with ballroom dance and it looks fantastic! I LOVE this movie, and the music is absolutely amazing! It makes you want to dance and I feel alive when I see the movie. If you want to have a big musical experience filed with love and drama, then enjoy every minute of this film! I hope you will let yourself flowed away to the Cuban music!