Mad About Mambo (2000)

just watch it!

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Just revisited this film some 16 years after release. The ongoing success of The Americans made me curious as to how it would hold up: 1. If you want better dance and music, pick Flashdance.2. If you want a better story, pick Dirty Dancing.3. At the end of the day, the "hidden ground" in these sorts of Romcoms is that the female audience should (ideally) end up in love with the male lead, and vice versa. On this basis, the movie works. Russell never looked better. While her accent proves elusive in several scenes, her natural grace and movement is mesmerizing.4. While possibly not among the top Romcoms of all times, could possibly be one of the top Keri Russell films in the IMDb archive.

Maybe the film is too European, because of the football and the cry out of social and political problems but, one thing's for sure, there is very little mambo, or none at all, in this movie. There was plenty of "salsa" and other modern "Latino" music in it, though. Maybe most of the world think that when you talk about mambo or salsa, you can put it all in the same box and say "It's all Latino music". There you are, missing the real concept. The movie was supposed to have told the story of a young footballer, wanting to improve his game by taking lessons of "samba", music originated in Brasil, but unfortunately the samba gets mixed up with the word mambo, and then mixed again with some "buenos días". How long is it going to take filmmakers to realise that it's very easy to find out the differences between different countries, cultures and music.

I don't know why everyone is so negative about this film. We just saw it on video and I really liked it. OK, so I don't know that much about dancing and what is what but apart from some cringe moments (like at the competition), I really really liked it!! Really good feel-good movie... My fav parts are when they dance in the pool and the final end dance.. ;o) He shows a lot of emotion and I guess it just brought me back to those highschool crushes.. those moments when it was just so.. wow... ;o)Really inspired us to take up dancing lessons again.. anyway, just a really fun feel-good movie and that fashion-concious friend was wonderful!! Maybe I just haven't been around enough Irish but I thought the accents were OK.. at least we could actually understand them!!

Mad About Mambo is the same old story of poor boy meeting rich girl and falling in love. Nothing new or exciting is added to this very shallow film, and Keri Russell's performance was a bit disappointing. I was hoping to see more of her dancing talent showcased, but much of the camerawork made that impossible. All in all, don't waste your money.