Bruce Garrett loved to dance salsa as a child. And he was really good at it, too. That is, until some bullies broke his teenage spirit and he quit dancing. Fast forward 20 years or so, and an adult Bruce Garrett (Nick Frost) is a lathe salesman who gets constantly shit on by his superior/co-worker (Chris O’Dowd). However, both of them find themselves competing for the affections of their new boss (Rashida Jones), who just happens to have a very specific interest: salsa dancing.
If you think the plot is a bit contrived and kind of ridiculous, you wouldn’t be the only one. But Cuban Fury largely rides on the charm of Frost, who has proven himself to be quite the leading man. I couldn’t help but compare his role here to his fantastic turn as the straight businessman in The World’s End. He’s introverted, self-conscious, and holds it together—that is, until someone just sends him over the edge. And he has a real sense of charisma and is very relatable. You can’t help but root for the guy, and he’s as funny as ever given the script he has to work with—which, unfortunately, has far too few jokes. O’Dowd was so convincing as the asshole of the office I wanted to just punch him in his stupid British face. On the other hand, any actress could have played Rashida Jones’ part with similar results in the final film. That’s not knocking Jones’ acting—the character just never takes off.
I can say the same for the supporting cast as well. The only three supporting characters that really jumped at me were Bejan, a very flamboyant and passionate salsa dancer Bruce meets at salsa lessons, played excellently by Kayvan Novak; Sam, Bruce’s sister and former dance partner, now 35 and still working at a Hawaiian bar, who comes to life at the hands of Olivia Colman; and Ron, Bruce’s old, washed-up, alcoholic salsa mentor, who, really, is just Ian McShane being Ian McShane, but I don’t have a problem with that one bit. He can tell me to get smashed and play board games any day.
Despite generally average filmmaking, there’s an immaculately choreographed dance/fight scene in a parking garage between Frost and O’Dowd that goes on far longer than it had any right to and it’s just fantastic. Everyone in this movie has some serious dancing chops, especially Frost. It’s like if The Office had a West Side Story-themed episode. It’s so nuts, and it’s the best part of the movie.
Overall, Cuban Fury is enjoyable but inoffensive, which is a shame for a film about something as vibrant and flashy as salsa dancing. Its cast of characters is fine and they fill their duties, but I don’t remember most of them. Nick Frost is a damn fine leading man, but he’s not enough to hold the entire movie together.
Grade: B
I can say the same for the supporting cast as well. The only three supporting characters that really jumped at me were Bejan, a very flamboyant and passionate salsa dancer Bruce meets at salsa lessons, played excellently by Kayvan Novak; Sam, Bruce’s sister and former dance partner, now 35 and still working at a Hawaiian bar, who comes to life at the hands of Olivia Colman; and Ron, Bruce’s old, washed-up, alcoholic salsa mentor, who, really, is just Ian McShane being Ian McShane, but I don’t have a problem with that one bit. He can tell me to get smashed and play board games any day.
Despite generally average filmmaking, there’s an immaculately choreographed dance/fight scene in a parking garage between Frost and O’Dowd that goes on far longer than it had any right to and it’s just fantastic. Everyone in this movie has some serious dancing chops, especially Frost. It’s like if The Office had a West Side Story-themed episode. It’s so nuts, and it’s the best part of the movie.
Overall, Cuban Fury is enjoyable but inoffensive, which is a shame for a film about something as vibrant and flashy as salsa dancing. Its cast of characters is fine and they fill their duties, but I don’t remember most of them. Nick Frost is a damn fine leading man, but he’s not enough to hold the entire movie together.
Grade: B
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