Mostly known for forming the second part of the Cornetto Trilogy double act with Simon Pegg, Nick Frost steps up with his first leading role in Cuban Fury, a romantic comedy which takes us inside the heady world of salsa dancing. Frost plays Bruce Garrett a former salsa child prodigy who has let himself seriously go in later life. When he discovers his new boss (Rashida Jones) has taken up salsa dancing, he decides to brush off his sequin shirts and dancing shoes in order to win her heart.
There is nothing in Cuban Fury we haven't seen before (comparison's to Simon Pegg's Run Fatboy Run will no doubt run thorough peoples heads when watching this), but director James Griffiths, making his feature debut after working on t.v. shows Episodes and Up all Night, keeps proceeding endlessly charming and entertaining. It does recycle some old romantic comedy cliches, but for the most part it's a rom com aimed at both men and women. Kicking off with a flashy recounting of Bruce's glory days, we're soon thrown into the story proper, soon brought up to speed with Bruce's current life working in a lathe factory (there is an amazing amount of lathe puns in this). Admittedly, the movie wastes a lot of time with the set up, the first act feeling like bit of a slog to get through. An overabundance of characters is one of this movies major downfalls, trying to give them all screen time slows things down with sub plots that really go no where. But once Bruce puts on those shoes, that is when it kicks into comedy high gear. Now you won't be laughing out loud every second, but the humour is so well paced that you should be kept at a constant chuckle, or at the very least have a goofy smile on your face, for most of the run time. A mixture of nice one liner and pratfalls, helped by an extremely game cast, tide you over between the big comedy moments, topped off by a hilarious, sometimes gravity defying dance off. It's the movies best moment, but the fact the story goes on for a bit longer, delivering the usual romantic cliche ending, lets it down slightly.
Those who have followed Frost's career from his work with Pegg and Edgar Wright to his fine supporting turns in The Boat That Rocked (Pirate Radio for our friends in America) and Attack the Block, will know he has what it takes to headline a movie. Bruce is instantly likable the moment we see him, and Frost stuffs a shed load of charm into the role. You will be constantly rooting for him to get the girl, which you know he will. Not because this is your standard rom-com, but because his love rival, Drew (Chris O'Dowd), is a delightfully smarmy a hole. O'Dowd plays totally against type, and he relishes every minute of it, threatening to steal the show early on, but it's a credit to Frost that he pulls the focus back quite soon. Drew bags some of the movies best lines, mainly in the form of inventive put downs aimed at Bruce. The rest of the supporting cast fare very well also, though Rashida Jones doesn't do much more than be a generic love interest. Ian McShane puts in the same crochety old grump role as he did in Hot Rod, but he is so damn god at it. Oliva Coleman and Kayvan Novak are also very likable as Bruce's sister and fellow dance student respectively, especially Novak with his constant references to 80's movies.
It doesn't do anything know with the rom com genre, but a great cast, and an extremly funny script keeps this entertaining. One Valentines Day movie guys won't roll their eyes at being dragged to.
There is nothing in Cuban Fury we haven't seen before (comparison's to Simon Pegg's Run Fatboy Run will no doubt run thorough peoples heads when watching this), but director James Griffiths, making his feature debut after working on t.v. shows Episodes and Up all Night, keeps proceeding endlessly charming and entertaining. It does recycle some old romantic comedy cliches, but for the most part it's a rom com aimed at both men and women. Kicking off with a flashy recounting of Bruce's glory days, we're soon thrown into the story proper, soon brought up to speed with Bruce's current life working in a lathe factory (there is an amazing amount of lathe puns in this). Admittedly, the movie wastes a lot of time with the set up, the first act feeling like bit of a slog to get through. An overabundance of characters is one of this movies major downfalls, trying to give them all screen time slows things down with sub plots that really go no where. But once Bruce puts on those shoes, that is when it kicks into comedy high gear. Now you won't be laughing out loud every second, but the humour is so well paced that you should be kept at a constant chuckle, or at the very least have a goofy smile on your face, for most of the run time. A mixture of nice one liner and pratfalls, helped by an extremely game cast, tide you over between the big comedy moments, topped off by a hilarious, sometimes gravity defying dance off. It's the movies best moment, but the fact the story goes on for a bit longer, delivering the usual romantic cliche ending, lets it down slightly.
Those who have followed Frost's career from his work with Pegg and Edgar Wright to his fine supporting turns in The Boat That Rocked (Pirate Radio for our friends in America) and Attack the Block, will know he has what it takes to headline a movie. Bruce is instantly likable the moment we see him, and Frost stuffs a shed load of charm into the role. You will be constantly rooting for him to get the girl, which you know he will. Not because this is your standard rom-com, but because his love rival, Drew (Chris O'Dowd), is a delightfully smarmy a hole. O'Dowd plays totally against type, and he relishes every minute of it, threatening to steal the show early on, but it's a credit to Frost that he pulls the focus back quite soon. Drew bags some of the movies best lines, mainly in the form of inventive put downs aimed at Bruce. The rest of the supporting cast fare very well also, though Rashida Jones doesn't do much more than be a generic love interest. Ian McShane puts in the same crochety old grump role as he did in Hot Rod, but he is so damn god at it. Oliva Coleman and Kayvan Novak are also very likable as Bruce's sister and fellow dance student respectively, especially Novak with his constant references to 80's movies.
It doesn't do anything know with the rom com genre, but a great cast, and an extremly funny script keeps this entertaining. One Valentines Day movie guys won't roll their eyes at being dragged to.
