The Mambo Kings

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Audience Member After reading the book, watching this movie was a little disappointing. Within 5 minutes, I could tell the lead actor was not a Cuban guy. After a quick google search, I saw that he is an Italian American, and it comes through clearly in the movie. His mannerisms are very New York-Italian, and it misses the mark on who Cesar Castillo is in the book. In general, the casting was not very good. Antonio Banderas played a character who is supposed to be sad and melancholic. Banderas’ charisma is a mismatch for this role, and again Banderas is not Cuban either lol. The book was so good. I just wish the movie was more true to the book and portrayed real Cuban culture. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/04/24 Full Review Audience Member Based on the novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos and starring Armand Assante, Antonio Banderas, Cathy Moriarty, Talisa Soto In the 1950's siblings Caesar and Nestor Castillo leave Cuba for New York They hope to change the landscape of Latin music forever The opening shows one of Nestor's romances gone wrong, Maria a woman who married another man to save his life and Caesar ended up getting beaten Maria then urges him to take his brother to America Once they achieve their stardom in mambo music Caesar revels in the face and fortune while Nestor falls in love with a woman named Dolores but also missing him homeland Both of them go back and forth how to handle their band to their personal happiness The music in us keeps us alive and going Two fine leads in a spirited evocation of the mambo craze which swept post-war America with some lovely music Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review steve d Good performances unsatisfying story. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member It is definitely high energy! It has so many great actors and artists I smiled through the entire movie. The music was live and fun as well. It's a classic; two thumbs up. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Audience Member I thought the book was bad and at least the FIN translation was crass and closing to a bad porn. more than 10 years has past and the film is not any better. The only thing that was enjoyable was the music. For the rest... what a waste of space. At least the film was more .... clean. :) Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Audience Member YOU GOTTA LOVE THEM :P Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Mambo Kings

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