Year:
2004
Studio:
Lions Gate Films/Miramax Films/
Artisan Films
Feature: 3/5
Extras: 3/5
Dirty Dancing: Havana
Nights is not so much a sequel of Dirty Dancing and not so much a
remake as it is a movie with the same sort of basic premises. It's a
movie about a girl and a guy, a romance, and dancing. Dirty Dancing.
The movie is based on Choreopgrapher JoAnn Jansen's experiences in Cuba
when she was 15. The year is 1958, just before the revolution that put
Fidel Castro into power. Katey Miller (Romola Garai) is a teenager
thrust into an alien land when her family moves there. She doesn't fit
in with the other white kids and becomes enthralled with Cuban dance.
And through that she makes a friend with Javier Suarez (Diego Luna), a
poor Cuban kid with a passion that attracts her.
Katey wants to jelp Javier win a dance contest and with the $5000 he
and his family will be able to move to America. She's a good ballroom
dancer, taking after her parents. He's a good latin dancer. Together
they combine their dancing strengths into a hybrid. But will they be
good enough to win?
That main obstacles are Katey's parents, who don't know and will
definitely not approve of Javier. Then there's Javier's brother who is
involved in the revolution and sees Javier as being too cosy with the
foreigners.
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Havana Nights is an ok
movie. It didn't have the quite the passion of Dirty Dancing and the modest
production values make it look more like a movie for cable than for
theatrical release. I'm pretty lukewarm about recommending this movie.
DVD Extras
Producer an Choreographer Commentary: Interesting since the movie is
based on Co-Producer and Choreographer JoAnn Jansen's experiences when
she 15. Some parts were more loosely based than others.
Multi-Angel Dance Sequences: Also an opportunity to see two of the
three finalists dance their 90-second routines.
Deleted Scenes: 10 scenes, nothing remarkable.
Baila! A Dance Piece: 11-minute on the dancing and training.
Inside Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights: 24 minute behind-the-scenes.
Yerba Buena Music Video: "Guajira (I Love U 2 Much)"
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