Discalimer-I haven’t watched the original ’Dirty Dancing’ movie starring Patrick Swayze & Jennifer Grey.Hence, my thoughts on this second installment is solely based upon this film alone & I cannot really compare the two editions.
If you have been lucky enough to have seen the first movie, then ’Dirty Dancing:Havana Nights’ follows the same plot literally-Girl meets boy in an exotic foreign location, they fall in love, their families try tearing them apart, the teenage couple refuse to budge & engage in a thrilling dance adventure.This time though the girl in question is Katey Miller(Romola Garai) who’s paintsakingly smart, yearns to graduate & doesn’t give a damn about boys or prom.She’s being dragged to Cuba where the revolution is boiling steamingly well;by her father who’s just got a decent job promotion.Inspite of being rich, Katey’s down in the dumps.Her sister, Susie Miller(Mika Boorem) is excited to be mingling with the rest of the spoilt rich American brats in Havana, while her mother Jeannie Miller(Sela Ward) quickly establishes herself among the company of the brats’s mums.She gets befriended by her father’s colleague’s son, James Phelps(Jonathan Jackson) who’s definitely interested in dating her, much to the satisfaction of their mothers.Katey secretly is inrigued by local waiter, Javier Suarez(Diego Luna) whose family is deeply rooted within the revolution.On observing him dance to Cuban music on the streets, her fascination with salsa & Javier grows stronger.On learning that Javier got fired from his job because of their interaction, she proposes a deal to him as to where they both enter a dance competiton, combining her ballroom dancing skills & his Cuban heritage to win a handsome amount of cash, which Javier agrees to since his family’s not quite well off.The rest of the storyline involves Javier teaching Katey to ditch her refined ’fox-trot’ skills & diagnose musical rhythms the Cuban way.
Clearly the plot’s your average run-of-the-mill dance story which has repeated itself more so over the past seven years.What does make dance scripts popular though are the dance scenes themselves & truly, Diego Luna does capture your awe with his ’awesome’ dance routines.Being Mexican, I suspect he didn’t have to put in much effort as Romola Gerai who for a newcomer has done a pretty good job.The end scenes vary a bit from of the rest of the films from the same genre by also coveying a very important life lesson(watch the movie).The great overall cast has been supported by excellent footage of Havana & we get a sense of the Revolution at its midst.One problem I have followed through on YouTube is how many Cubans have complained that the dance portrayed here is more of a "white man’s vision of Cuban salsa".Also, hardcore DD fans won’t appreciate the cast change.Otherwise, excellent music & beats to follow up on...............give yourself a treat & watch this maybe on a holiday or so.Trust me, you’ll feel refreshed.
Final grade-A+, Jean Wyclef & Claudette Ortiz’s version of ’Dance Like This’ is better than Shakira’s
Guest star surprise-Watch out for Patrick Swayze!