Cuba

Rating:
Summary: Impressions.
Review: *Cuba* may be the best movie you've never heard of. The setting is 1958, just before the final collapse of the Batista regime. Sean Connery stars as a British mercenary with the odd name of Dapes, whom Batista's colonels hope will help them to stamp out Fidel Castro's revolutionaries. However, Connery pretty much figures out -- almost as soon as he arrives -- that Batista's cause will be lost, and so his attempts to guide the incompetent military are rather half-hearted. He's much more interested in reviving a love affair with an old flame, Brooke Adams (surprisingly glamorous, but with an on-again, off-again accent). Problem is, she's married to the profligate son (Chris Sarandon) of one of Cuba's wealthiest industrialists . . . and it's a lifestyle that rather fits in with her imperial demeanor. (She runs the cigar factory and the rum distillery while her husband gets drunk and chases the skirts of the hired help.) The movie does not pretend to be a terribly accurate account of the Cuban Revolution. What director Richard Lester goes for instead are impressionistic sketches of the land, its people, and its culture. All the stereotypes are here, lovingly rendered: the fat, pompous jefes; the sultry women; the tacky gringo culture superimposed on the place for the visiting American businessmen (one of whom is the always-welcome Jack Weston, in a terrifically sleazy performance); the cigar factories; the prostitutes; the skinny kids playing street baseball; posters of politicos; languid bathers poolside; tropical drinks with the little umbrellas . . . get the idea? The movie succeeds spectacularly in delineating the death-throes of a way of life. Havana in particular seems deserted, denuded of people: even blonde American strippers can't find an audience. *Cuba* is a poignant, and at times funny, daguerreotype of a nation filled with ghosts, just on the cusp of revolution.

Rating:
Summary: Undiscovered Gem
Review: A delightful movie that nobody seems to know about - Brooke Adams, Hector Elizondo, Denholm Elliot, Sean Connery - all fine performances in one of those films where the characters seem to continually cross each others' paths. Toothsome.

Rating:
Summary: Not a well-known film, but very good
Review: CUBA is a fine serio-comic story set in 1959 during the final stage of the Batista regime. Sean Connery is a mercenary brought to Cuba by one of Batista's generals (Martin Balsam) to help crush the threat of Castro's revolutionaries. Connery runs into a past lover, Brooke Adams, who is now the manager of a tobacco factory. As the couple get reacquainted, the political turmoil reaches a breaking point. CUBA isn't meant to be a detailed examination of a prominent historical event. Instead, Batista's downfall serves as a backdrop for the Connery/Adams relationship, and how their lives become intertwined with several other characters. The great supporting cast includes Jack Weston as an opportunistic American businessman, Denholm Elliott as a boozy pilot, Chris Sarandon as Adams' womanizing husband, and Hector Elizondo as a perceptive military officer. Director Richard Lester does an admirable job of mixing dramatic action with amusing comic bits. The film satirizes the mentality of military men and guerrillas in a somewhat zany way, without eliminating the more disturbing elements. There are no true "good guys" in the story, but viewers can empathize with Connery as he deals with the insanity around him. Curiously though, Brooke Adams' character comes off as rather unsympathetic. This is one of Connery's lesser-known films, which is too bad, because the movie deserves to be seen.

Rating:
Summary: Not a well-known film, but very good
Review: CUBA is a fine serio-comic story set in 1959 during the final stage of the Batista regime. Sean Connery is a mercenary brought to Cuba by one of Batista's generals (Martin Balsam) to help crush the threat of Castro's revolutionaries. Connery runs into a past lover, Brooke Adams, who is now the manager of a tobacco factory. As the couple get reacquainted, the political turmoil reaches a breaking point. CUBA isn't meant to be a detailed examination of a prominent historical event. Instead, Batista's downfall serves as a backdrop for the Connery/Adams relationship, and how their lives become intertwined with several other characters. The great supporting cast includes Jack Weston as an opportunistic American businessman, Denholm Elliott as a boozy pilot, Chris Sarandon as Adams' womanizing husband, and Hector Elizondo as a perceptive military officer. Director Richard Lester does an admirable job of mixing dramatic action with amusing comic bits. The film satirizes the mentality of military men and guerrillas in a somewhat zany way, without eliminating the more disturbing elements. There are no true "good guys" in the story, but viewers can empathize with Connery as he deals with the insanity around him. Curiously though, Brooke Adams' character comes off as rather unsympathetic. This is one of Connery's lesser-known films, which is too bad, because the movie deserves to be seen.

Rating:
Summary: Cuba, don't bother
Review: I love movies, books and music...anything about Cuba and other caribbean cultures. This movie was awful! The acting is bad, the story is bad. Don't waste your time unless you need a nap. As great at the movie Havana is, is how bad the move Cuba is.

Rating:
Summary: When on DVD, MGM?
Review: I've seen this movie twice, on late night exhibitions. No, I wasn't drunk. The movie certainly has a mood that will keep you tuned. At least it kept me. It's not about historic facts, but relations and how important they may become in an uncertain situation. I'm surprized such a joy isn't available on DVD yet, as we see so many trash being offered on this new format. Hope they don't wait to launch it until nobody remembers it.

Rating:
Summary: The Movie World awaits a great drama re Pre_Castro Cuba
Review: Rex Stewart Movie Review: Cuba

The Movie World needs a great pre-Castro movie about Cuba. Unfortunately neither this nor Havana is it. In fact the limited glimpses in Godfather II have more impact than this entire Director appears to be working within a tight budget, but still fails. A drama must have drama. Cuba does not.. He does a poor job of maintaining 6/10 Sean Connery is the greatest, but the part does not allow much room whether the cinematographers/director have little understanding of the fundamentals of cinematography or whether they are simply so short of film is watchable, but enjoy the scenic tour, because it fails as a drama. Connery, like the Great George C. Scott, needs to be more careful about 1 Worth watching once. Assuming $1 rental on a slow Sunday afternoon.

Even the critics can be wrong, Rex Stewart

Rex Stewart rating Scale Assuming $1 rental on a slow Sunday afternoon. 2 Could watch it twice within three years without complaint. 3*** Worth a full price theatre ticket. 3 * . 4* An excellent movie. Worthy of purchase or multilpe rentals over several years. 5* Blockbuster. Overwhelming. Would own the expectations for the movie as I believe it is projected.

Rating:
Summary: Good story, very unrealistic female character
Review: The story is good and Sean is, as usual, Sean. However, the movie was ruined by the poor casting and character of the female role. She is incredibly shallow, immature, and petty. It is totally unrealistic. Although I watch the movie occasionally because I love Cuba and am a devoted Sean Connery fan, I am always angry and disappointed about the female's character.

Rating:
Summary: Good story, very unrealistic female character
Review: The story is good and Sean is, as usual, Sean. However, the movie was ruined by the poor casting and character of the female role. She is incredibly shallow, immature, and petty. It is totally unrealistic. Although I watch the movie occasionally because I love Cuba and am a devoted Sean Connery fan, I am always angry and disappointed about the female's character.

Rating:
Summary: Let's hear it for the location scout!
Review: This awful adolescent drivel is saved only by Sean Connery and the breathtakingly accurate scenery. The late 50's interiors are dead on and throughout the movie, I kept wondering, how on earth did they get permission to shoot in Cuba? Of course they didn't - it was shot in Spain.

Despite the interesting atmosphere and backstory, the story itself isn't cohesive and there are holes in it big enough to hold one of Batista's white baby grands.

Perhaps the story would have held if the female lead had more strength. Brooke Adams portrays Alejandra Pulido with a here-again, gone-again Spanish accent and a weakness that betrays the character as written.