Review of Cuba (1979) by Allan C — 09 Aug 2014
Director Richard Lester summed this film up nicely, calling it "A political film within which no one speaks about politics and a love story in which no one speaks about love." There are hints of Casablanca, with Sean Connery as a mercenary hired by the Batista Regime in 1959 to train soldiers.
He then comes across old flame Brooke Adams, all the while the Cuba Revolution is fomenting. It's a film that wasn't received well at it's time by critics and also wasn't received well by either Castro or Batista supporters, which probably means they got it right.
Besides Connery and Adams (who always seemed interchangeable to me with Karen Allen and Jessica Harper) is a strong cast that includes Jack Weston, Chris Sarandon, Hector Elizondo, Denholm Elliott, Martin Balsam and David Rappaport.
Written by frequent Lester collaborator Charles Wood it's a smart script that avoids cliches and works quite well. It's not a prefect film, but in some ways it struck me as something of a flawed masterpiece.
This review of Cuba (1979) was written by Allan C on 09 Aug 2014.
Cuba has generally received mixed reviews.
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