Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights

The line between cute and brainless is sometimes a fine one, but this sort-of prequel to the surprise 1987 crowd-pleaser stays resolutely on the wrong side of it. The original 1960s-set Dirty Dancing revolved around a spoiled teen whose life was changed when she met dance instructor Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze) while vacationing in the Catskills. Havana Nights takes place in the Cuban capital during the waning days of the Batista regime in 1958, and features a studious American girl (Romola Garai) who links up with a local lad (Diego Luna) to dance their way to victory in a contest in order to win him the money he needs to support his family. There are further complications, of course--most notably the condescending attitude of the American contingent toward the indigents, and the involvement of the boy's brother in the Castro revolution--but these two crazy kids overcome all obstacles and fall in love as the government falls around them. Swayze turns up briefly to encourage the heroine to go for the gold, and still swivels his hips with authority, but he can't save this film that boasts some decent music and dancing but is otherwise a series of narrative missteps from beginning to end. Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by producer Sarah Green and choreographer/co-producer JoAnn Jansen, a 24-minute making-of featurette, the 11-minute “Baila! Building the Dance” behind-the-scenes featurette (with dance auditions, interviews, and rehearsals), 10 deleted scenes (12 min.), two multi-angle dance sequences, the music video by New York band Yerba Buena “Guajira (I Love U 2 Much),” and trailers. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a disappointing film.] (F. Swietek)[Blu-ray Review—May 8, 2012—Lionsgate, 2 discs, 210 min., PG-13, $19.99—Making its third appearance on Blu-ray, 1987's Dirty Dancing sports a great transfer with DTS-HD 7.1 sound. Extras are identical to the previous Blu-ray release, including two audio commentaries (the first with writer/co-producer Eleanor Bergstein; second with choreographers Kenny Ortega and Jeff Jur, costar and co-choreographer Miranda Garrison, costume designer Hilary Rosenfeld, and production designer David Chapman), a “Live in Concert” vintage stage show (83 min.), interviews with costar Jennifer Gray, Bergstein, Garrison, and Ortega (59 min.), a “Tributes” section with an “In Memoriam” featurette and specific tributes to director Emile Ardolino and costars Patrick Swayze and Jerry Orbach (37 min. total), deleted/alternate/extended scenes (24 min.), the featurettes “Dancing to the Music” (17 min.), “The Phenomenon” on the popularity of the film (14 min.), “Dirty Dancing with Patrick Swayze” (13 min.), “The Rhythm of the Dancing” (4 min.), and “Kellerman's: Reliving the Locations of the film” (13 min.), a fan reel (7 min.), a vintage featurette (7 min.), two multi-angle dance sequences (3 min.), screen tests (3 min.), brief outtakes, the music videos for “Hungry Eyes” by Eric Carmen, “She's Like the Wind” by Swayze, and “(I've Had) The Time of My Life” by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, script pages, a trivia track, and trailers. Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2004's Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights features a fine transfer with DTS-HD 7.1 sound. Extras are identical to the previous DVD release, including audio commentary by producer Sarah Green and choreographer/co-producer JoAnn Jansen, a “making-of” featurette (24 min.), the “Baila! A Dance Piece” behind-the-scenes featurette with dance auditions, interviews, and rehearsals (11 min.), 10 deleted scenes (12 min.), two multi-angle dance sequences, the music video “Guajira (I Love U 2 Much)” by Yerba Buena, and trailers. Bottom line: given the disappointing sequel, most collections will be fine with the previous Blu-ray release of Dirty Dancing alone.]