It's in the title, it's in the stars - the subject is dancing. There are exactly three memorable dance scenes, and these are marred by pedestrian photography. The cameras' moves are left-footed, and Hollywood did a better job 50 years ago when they made those old, bulky cameras become somehow fluid and sweeping.
The movie runs just over three hours. Most of it is devoted to a trite, predictable story - the kind television does much better. All but one of the dance sequences are packed into the last 25% of the movie.
Latin dancing has much more of its origins in the streets than Anglo-Saxon ballroom dancing. The rhythm of the streets, what you'd see in South Beach, rarely occurs here. The scene set-ups are too studied to be able to impart a true Cuban feel.
I like to dance, and I do it well. Give me "Strictly Ballroom", and Australian comedy with LOTS of dancing, anytime. Or, hell, even "Saturday Night Fever".
The movie runs just over three hours. Most of it is devoted to a trite, predictable story - the kind television does much better. All but one of the dance sequences are packed into the last 25% of the movie.
Latin dancing has much more of its origins in the streets than Anglo-Saxon ballroom dancing. The rhythm of the streets, what you'd see in South Beach, rarely occurs here. The scene set-ups are too studied to be able to impart a true Cuban feel.
I like to dance, and I do it well. Give me "Strictly Ballroom", and Australian comedy with LOTS of dancing, anytime. Or, hell, even "Saturday Night Fever".