"Cuban Fury" has a certain charm. It runs to a tried and true formula, and occasionally has some funny lines. However it also tends to deliver one anti-climatic scene after another – we keep waiting for the knockout punch, which never really arrives.
Bruce Garrett (Nick Frost), who after a long absence, returns to Salsa dancing to win over his new boss, Julia (Rashida Jones). We learn that Bruce was a child Salsa champion who dropped out of dancing after being traumatised by bullies. He seeks out his old mentor, Ron (Ian McShane), to help him reignite his passion and regain his skills.
If "Cuban Fury" reminds me of any movie it is "One Chance", the story of Paul Potts, but the key elements just don't work as well.
Both films feature an unprepossessing character who possesses one big talent. In "One Chance", we see this talent building after a few false starts into an emotion charged finale when Paul Pott's voice bursts forth in a moment of triumph. In "Cuban Fury", on the other hand, all we get for the most part are false starts.
When Bruce eventually cuts loose with his Salsa skills to compete with Drew (Chris O'Dowd), his rival for Julia's affections, it's a weird scene with just the two of them in a car park. By the time Nick hits the dance floor at the end, where, according to the rules of this kind of movie, the dance-off with his rival should have taken place, we have been deflated in our expectations too many times for it to have much impact.
Co-writer and star, Nick Frost, creates a character who easily gains our sympathy; Bruce Garrett has long since come to terms with his lot in life – he has more than a casual acquaintance with low self-esteem. I am not sure about the dancing though. Sharing a similar body shape, I could not help thinking that his overly energetic Salsa dancing probably wasn't a good idea without knowing there was a defibrillator handy.
Rashida Jones steals the movie. She gives a winning performance as Nick's self-effacing American boss who seems a little out of place in the British engineering company.
Despite missed opportunities along the way, "Cuban Fury" is quirky enough to hold your attention even if it doesn't exactly soar at the end.
Bruce Garrett (Nick Frost), who after a long absence, returns to Salsa dancing to win over his new boss, Julia (Rashida Jones). We learn that Bruce was a child Salsa champion who dropped out of dancing after being traumatised by bullies. He seeks out his old mentor, Ron (Ian McShane), to help him reignite his passion and regain his skills.
If "Cuban Fury" reminds me of any movie it is "One Chance", the story of Paul Potts, but the key elements just don't work as well.
Both films feature an unprepossessing character who possesses one big talent. In "One Chance", we see this talent building after a few false starts into an emotion charged finale when Paul Pott's voice bursts forth in a moment of triumph. In "Cuban Fury", on the other hand, all we get for the most part are false starts.
When Bruce eventually cuts loose with his Salsa skills to compete with Drew (Chris O'Dowd), his rival for Julia's affections, it's a weird scene with just the two of them in a car park. By the time Nick hits the dance floor at the end, where, according to the rules of this kind of movie, the dance-off with his rival should have taken place, we have been deflated in our expectations too many times for it to have much impact.
Co-writer and star, Nick Frost, creates a character who easily gains our sympathy; Bruce Garrett has long since come to terms with his lot in life – he has more than a casual acquaintance with low self-esteem. I am not sure about the dancing though. Sharing a similar body shape, I could not help thinking that his overly energetic Salsa dancing probably wasn't a good idea without knowing there was a defibrillator handy.
Rashida Jones steals the movie. She gives a winning performance as Nick's self-effacing American boss who seems a little out of place in the British engineering company.
Despite missed opportunities along the way, "Cuban Fury" is quirky enough to hold your attention even if it doesn't exactly soar at the end.