Customer Reviews
Instant 'feel good' - By: Llb Hide, 05 May 2005 
Havana Nights is best considered seperately from it's predecessor as it has reallly nothing to do with it beyond being a film about young people brought together by a love of dancing & a cameo appearance by Patrick Swayze as a dance teacher. Katie(Romola Garai), an academic teenager brought to Havana by her parents when her father changes job, is intrigued by the Cuban waiter Javier(Diego Luna) at the hotel where they stay.Javier shows Katie several instances of kindness, helping her when she is lost in town & escorting her back to the hotel at night when she has problems with her approved date,so inspiring her to want to help him when he loses his job.
Recognising his natural talent as a dancer & with some dancing skills herself (coutesy of her parents who are ex balllroom dancers) Katie suggests they should fuse their very different styles & enter a dance competition so he can win some money.Unsurprisingly, Katie has to learn to loosen up on the way as well as shed more than a few a few inhibitions & in the process fallls in love with the 'Cuban poor boy'- much to her parents dismay.
The whole story is set against the overthrow of President Batista in 1958 with the consequences that entails for both of them.Whilst a fairly predictable story & suffering from a certain akwardness in the dialogue, especiallly at the end, the leading characters manage to engender much interest & sympathy, especiallly the excellent Diego Luna, who is always completely believable & 'sympatico'. Neither Luna nor Garai had professional dance training before, but managed a great job
with a little help from skilled choreography & photography.
The music is great, combining the talents of Wycliff Jene, Santana , the Black Eyed Peas & Orishas, & whilst far from being authentic for the time, certainly makes anyone with a liking for dance want to join in- remembering to move the hips in a circle, not a box-as Javier would say.One criticism would be that some of the scenes seem quite rushed at times & the film builds up an interest in the characters which it does not quite satisfy at the end, although the final scene manages to have us ending with a 'high'.Whilst probably mainly a film for those who love music & dancing or with a romantic streak, it is hard to imagine anyone who would not step a little lighter after seeing this film.
dirty dancing 2 - By: siobhan hickey, 03 Nov 2004 on the whole a great film, which lives up to the name dirty dancing! the film is set in 1950's Cuba where a rebellion is taking place. Patrick Swazee makes a great cameo appearance as a dance teacher (of course), but he fails to get a lead performance as the cuban heartthrobe steals the show as the waiter habier. Katie & her family move to Cuba because of her fathers promotion & the shy Katie is instantly drawn into the world of hypnotic, latin-style dancing. But with the annual dance competition coming up can Katies balllroom skills & Habiers latin style be enough to win the competition & finallly make king & queen of "la lozzeri"
dirty dancing 2 - By: siobhan hickey, 03 Nov 2004 on the whole a great film, which lives up to the name dirty dancing! the film is set in 1950's Cuba where a rebellion is taking place. Patrick Swazee makes a great cameo appearance as a dance teacher (of course), but he fails to get a lead performance as the cuban heartthrobe steals the show as the waiter habier. Katie & her family move to Cuba because of her fathers promotion & the shy Katie is instantly drawn into the world of hypnotic, latin-style dancing. But with the annual dance competition coming up can Katies balllroom skills & Habiers latin style be enough to win the competition & finallly make king & queen of "la lozzeri"
