Review of Cuban Fury (2014) by Timm S — 04 Dec 2016

In this average Joe flick, Nick Frost ditches his usual comedy partner Simon Pegg, in favour of Chris O'Dowd, in what is essentially a mediocre salsa rom-com. Bullied as a child for his love of dancing, our lead character ditches his passion in order to live a normal life as a regular office worker.

That is until one day when his new glamorous boss catches his eye, and the only way to attract her attention away from his colleagues is through their shared passion for Salsa. It's an unlikely tale, that has a strong basis for humour given Frost's overweight physique in what is a fast paced dance craze.

However, it has limited jokes and despite keeping a constant smile on ones face throughout, it failed to set me alight. The workplace rivalry and fight for the females attention was as predictable as ever with there only ever being one winner as we root for the fat underdog to pull through.

His salsa sidekick did provide some camp comedy throughout, but there were too many non-entities, including the role of Ian McShane as the dance tutor. The concept of placing an ugly duckling in unusual surroundings and watching it develop is a much tried and tested storyline, but it all petered out into a rather anticlimactic ending.

Ok, so he may have got the girl, but he didn't win the competition. I mean if you're gonna stretch the boundaries of realism, at least ensure you get the fairytale finish! Not the best of breakthrough comedies, but a reasonable floor filler for the cinematic world.