Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (PG-13, 2004)

common sense media says

Bad movie, lame plot, poor acting. Don't bother.


parents & educators say
  • 33% say there are positive messages

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this movie is rated PG-13 "for sensuality," but what's here is mild compared to most PG-13 releases. As per the title, the dancing is suggestive. There is a discreet sexual situation -- a couple spends the night together on the beach and the next morning she is wearing his shirt. Characters drink and smoke and use some mild language, including an ugly racial epithet. There is some violence connected with the revolution, but nothing graphic.

Positive messages: Not applicable.
Violence: Tense scenes of political unrest, attempted assassination.
Sex: Kissing, suggestive dancing, non-explicit sexual situation.
Language: Mild language, including an ugly racial epithet.
Consumerism: Not applicable.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: Social drinking, smoking.

More on Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
Families can talk about what happened in Cuba in the 1950s and the results of the revolution led by Fidel Castro. They could talk about why Kate lied to her parents and how they feel about the way Kate blackmailed James into lying for her. Fans of the original movie could talk about what a better sequel would have included.

What's the story?

What's the story?

DIRTY DANCING: HAVANA HEIGHTS takes place before the first movie, in 1958 Cuba, just before Castro's revolution. Kate (Romola Garai) and her family have just arrived. Her parents (James Slattery and Sela Ward) were once dancers, but gave it up to provide a conventional and comfortable home for their family. While her parents want her to spend time with the other American kids, Kate is more interested in dancing with the pool boy, Javier (Diego Luna). While her parents think she is spending time with the boy they want her to date, she is off practicing with Javier so they can enter a dance contest and he can win enough money to take his family to America.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 

Somebody, please put this baby in a corner. Despite its name, this movie is not a sequel. In Hollywood terms, it is a "re-imagining" of the first film, which basically means it has attempted to recreate it but completely missed the point. It does not have the characters, setting, or plot of the original. It does not have the heart or the charm or the chemistry. Worst of all, it does not have the dancing. There are some slinky moves, but the camera keeps cutting away from the big dance numbers for reaction shots. Since there is barely enough of a plot to sustain a heartbeat, this probably means that the leads were not good enough dancers to do several different steps in a row, and it was intended to be distracting, pretty much defeating the entire purpose of the movie in the first place.

I have seen mayonnaise with more personality than the stars of this movie. And I have seen Jell-o with more excitement than the plot of this movie. It isn't that Garai and Luna have no chemistry with each other. They have anti-chemistry so powerful it seems to slow down the whole time-space continuum. There's a subtle reprise of the first movie's theme song and Patrick Swayze appears briefly as a dance teacher, just to underscore's this version's inferiority.

Movie themes & details

Movie Details
Studio: Artisan Entertainment
Director: Guy Ferland
Cast: Diego Luna, Jonathan Jackson, Romola Garai
Genre: Romance
Run time: 86 minutes
Theatrical release: February 27, 2004
DVD release: July 20, 2004
MPAA Rating: PG-13
MPAA explanation: sensuality

This review was written by Nell Minow
 
 

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What parents & educators say

13
Based on 3 parent & educator reviews:
  • 33% say there are positive messages

Most useful reviews by all members

EmilyB123
teen, 15 years old
 
I liked this movie...except for the acting was very poor, especially by the girl costar.

bookworm108
teen, 18 years old
 
really good movie!
I loved this movie! Don't be retarded and say that you aren't watching it because you just know it's not as good as the first, even though you haven't seen it. It's really good. I do, however, think that they shouldn't have titled it what they did. It throws people off. The movie is really good!!

googleflabben
parent of 15 year old
 
iloveyou Diego Luna <3
I absolutely LOVE this movie.... favourited for life! ! ! oh mii gawd.... Diego Luna, HAWTY. . . <3 u love himmmmm ... i found this movie 2 weeks ago and seen it 17 times <3 absolutely fantastic!

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