Can a gifted young actress ever be too good for the part? Yes, if you're talking about this pleasantly bland DIRTY DANCING sequel. HAVANA NIGHTS tries to transplant the "Dirty Dancing" story line to Cuba in the fifties. It's a good idea in itself. But the movie doesn't work because Romola Garai is not just good enough -- she's too good. She's too natural, too glamorous, too self-confident, and too alluring to be believable in the typical "dirty dancing" scenario.
In the original DIRTY DANCING, all of the story's power came from the fact that Jennifer Grey's character was a classic ugly duckling -- not a golden beauty with natural grace. It was thrilling, heartbreaking, poignant and funny to watch "Baby" discover her own sensuality and attractiveness, because you could see how shy and awkward she felt.
None of that dynamic works in HAVANA NIGHTS. The story lacks power precisely because Romola Garai is a screen "natural" in a way that Jennifer Grey never was. You never worry about her future. She seems to be so utterly right the moment she steps onto the dance floor. Far from being intimidated by her Cuban partner, she seems to be more at home on the dance floor than he is. Her golden, regal beauty and bewitching sensuality are so completely radiant and luminous in every scene, you never wonder if she'll get the guy. Instead you wonder why she wants a mere boy instead of a grown man of greater animal power and allure! Romola Garai is destined to be a huge star -- in this movie she soars to greatness.
But that doesn't make HAVANA NIGHTS a great movie.
In the original DIRTY DANCING, all of the story's power came from the fact that Jennifer Grey's character was a classic ugly duckling -- not a golden beauty with natural grace. It was thrilling, heartbreaking, poignant and funny to watch "Baby" discover her own sensuality and attractiveness, because you could see how shy and awkward she felt.
None of that dynamic works in HAVANA NIGHTS. The story lacks power precisely because Romola Garai is a screen "natural" in a way that Jennifer Grey never was. You never worry about her future. She seems to be so utterly right the moment she steps onto the dance floor. Far from being intimidated by her Cuban partner, she seems to be more at home on the dance floor than he is. Her golden, regal beauty and bewitching sensuality are so completely radiant and luminous in every scene, you never wonder if she'll get the guy. Instead you wonder why she wants a mere boy instead of a grown man of greater animal power and allure! Romola Garai is destined to be a huge star -- in this movie she soars to greatness.
But that doesn't make HAVANA NIGHTS a great movie.