Those who know me, or who read my reviews frequently, will know that I am not really a fan of British movies, and specifically, of British comedies. I know this is a strange thing for someone who is British and an avid cinema goer, but I just can't abide them. Of course, I don't like to generalise as one of my favourite movies of last year was About Time, which was a British romantic comedy. But I must admit that I chose Cuban Fury as it seemed like the best of a bad bunch of the films on offer that week, not because I thought it would be the new About Time.
As a huge fan of Spaced (and having met Nick Frost), I also felt a sense of loyalty towards the film and as though I should support not only the career of a genuinely lovely man, but also the British Film Industry as a whole, by seeing this movie. And so.
The film starts in the 1980s, where a young boy named Bruce was learning to Salsa dance. He had fire in his heels, and although it's not something you would expect to find a boy of his age doing, it's something he was passionate about. He and his sister Sam were actually very good and won a number of trophies from entering Salsa competitions, that was until a group of bullies cornered Bruce and stopped him from winning the biggest contest of his career, and humiliating him in the process. We fast forward 20 odd years and Bruce (Nick Frost) is now an overweight office worker, with no real passion for his life or work and no girlfriend in sight. That is until his firm hires American Julia (Rashida Jones) to take over the UK business. Bruce is immediately attracted to Julia, and upon trying to find common ground for them to become friends, he discovers that she is learning to Salsa. Will Bruce re-light the fire in his heels, or will he let Julia slip through his fingers into the arms of his foul-mouthed co-worker Drew (Chris O'Dowd)?
Cuban Fury has a charm about it which I am going to attribute to the cast. Without the chemistry they all have together I don't think the movie would have worked. Having said that, it could have, and probably should have, been a LOT funnier than it was. It has it's moments sure, but it's not laugh out loud hilarious at any point, and with comedic actors such as Frost and O'Dowd, it ought to have been.
The movie is perfectly watchable, but much like The Monuments Men, it's not really anything to write home about. I wish it had been this year's About Time but sadly, it's just nowhere near. Nice try though boys. 6.5 out of 10.
Viewing Date - 5th March 2014
UK Release Date - 14th February 2014
Cast Overview:
Bruce ~ Nick Frost
Drew ~ Chris O'Dowd
Julia ~ Rashida Jones
Sam ~ Olivia Colman
Ron ~ Ian McShane
Bejan ~ Kayvan Novak
Director ~ James Griffiths
Writer ~ Jon Brown (based on an original idea by Nick Frost)
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