Cuban Fury (2014)

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Good idea lost in the noise

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Bruce and his sister Sam danced salsa competitively as kids under the directions of Ron Parfitt (Ian McShane). They were a winning team until Bruce fails to attend the Nationals after being bullied in his costume. He vows never to dance again. Twenty five years later, Bruce Garrett (Nick Frost) is a chubby engineer. His 'friend' Drew (Chris O'Dowd) is a sleazy co-worker. Helen (Alexandra Roach) is a bitter co-worker. They get a new boss in Julia (Rashida Jones) and Bruce immediately falls for her. He discovers that she dances salsa and he tries to put on his dancing shoes once again.Nick Frost is likable. Chris O'Dowd is a silly fun weasel, and Rashida Jones is absolutely adorable. The movie works whenever these three interact with each other. The awkward romance between Frost and Jones is endearing. The dancing doesn't make sense. I don't understand why Bruce doesn't simply join in the dance class as a beginner. The premise doesn't work and the story suffers. The comedy works but the dancing story doesn't.

CUBAN FURY is yet another British comedy that isn't very funny. The concept - a workplace love triangle in which our portly hero has to return to his childhood love of salsa in order to win over the hot new American manager from his obnoxious co-worker - is sound but the jokes are too few, the direction is generic and, in a film which is all about dancing, it's all too obvious that Nick Frost as the lead can't actually dance very well. Among the supporting cast Ian McShane is nicely seedy and Kayvan Novak steals the show as a camp Persian fellow-dancer, but there's not enough of them and too much of Nick Frost being clumsy and Chris O'Dowd being a jerk.

Cuban Fury has it's moments. It's relatable characters and light-hearted theme will definitely appeal to those who are not crazy about films. However, this film makes absolutely no effort in trying to be anything but slightly enjoyable. On a directorial level it is bland and lifeless with no personality or flare. The pivotal dance sequences are poorly shot and they are not even that well choreographed. The relationships are forced and boring. And the plot has too much back and forth to be the type of film you can invest yourself in. This could have been a family friendly flick, but the gratuitous language and abysmal sex jokes completely kill the little purpose this films had. Speaking of purpose, they only reason there are well known actors in this movie is solely for marketing purposes. Admit it; you only watched it to see Nick Frost dance. This is a pointless movie made only to make money and to waste your time. Avoid it.

Cuban Fury (2014)A total feel good dance and music movie. And so familiar it really does just ride on the formula. Expect nothing more—and enjoy the salsa! It's curious that a leading actor in this movie, Irish actor Chris O'Dowd, also appears in a simliar feel good up from nowhere music flick, "The Sapphires," and yet here has an opposite personality. He plays an unlikeable boss here, and his excessive one-liners don't actually come off as funny.The real lead is Nick Frost, playing Bruce, a once promising salsa dancer who as a kid got ridiculed to the point of quitting. But now, as an adult looking for a girl in his life, he finds he needs to start again. He's funny and lovable, though also not as funny as he is meant to be. The woman in question is an American, Rashida Jones, who is really at ease and lovable on screen even if she plays a kind of obvious role. She helps ground what is a very lightweight and flimsy production. So then the usual competition between types of men occurs. There are clichés, there are the ever-useful plot twists and surprises that won't surprise you because they're so old, and then there's the dance competition. And you know, more or less, what happens. All in pure sweet happiness.Oddly enough, this mediocre movie is still fun to watch, so go ahead. The music is fun, and some of the dance venues are really great. And the story really does make you feel good.