@ the movies

Was planning to see Gibson's The Passion of the Christ but it was sold out as was Starsky and Hutch as was Hidalgo. So what did we three wind up seeing, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. Gasp. A friend said I shouldn't be admitting I saw that movie. I can say I didn't see the original Dirty Dancing which was a hit in 1987.

In brief: 2 stars out of 4, a thumbs up if you are in the mood for something lightweight.

Premise: young American girl moves with her family to Havana Cuba meets young local Cuban guy and they both like dancing and eventually each other. Obligatory conflicts with siblings and parents. Story is set in the time before the Castro takeover.

The two young actors are likable and pleasant to watch as they dance and interact. However, the dialog isn't much to write home about. In fact in one important dramatic scene the lines were so cheesy or corny (I'm not really sure which word best described that scene) that one person in the theatre burst out laughing. The rest of us were too polite to let out the guffaw.

The Latin rhythms do get the feet tapping and if you like watching young people in nice clothes dancing the night away, you'll enjoy it.

The film is PG-13 for suggestive dancing.

I do have a nitpick over the one they slept together scene in the film. If that part had been cut from the film and the dialog they shared in that scene was spoken over a cup of coffee, I think the film would be about the same.