Waste of time

To me, this movie is perfection.

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

I love it for its ...flavor. For Lena Olin and Robert Redford. For the clash between romance and politic. For the old image of people in the womb of bad times. And for a Cuba who was so easy lost. And that is all.

This movie is for people who have been in love or like watching movies about love. Though this movie isn't your cliché type of love story (it also contains aspects on the Cuban revolution) the chore of the movie revolves around love.The movie is about a simple man (Jack) who visits Havana because he loves to gamble, to meet the woman (Roberta) that would change his outlook and life forever. She fights for the resistance, against Batista, while he's not into politics at all. She's married with a man (Arturo) that is the head of the resistance in Havana. When Arturo gets kidnapped and is considered killed, Jack and Roberta have the chance to fall in love. But Jack finds out that Arturo is still alive and faces the choice of letting Roberta go or staying quite...This is one of the most real, deep and touching love stories I have seen. It contains beautiful poetic dialogues and the acting is great. A beautiful story about the meaning of love, sacrifice combined with the Cuban revolution.

I just never get tired of seeing the jubilant masses in Havana on January 1st, 1959, as the rats go scurrying to their boats and planes to escape the results of their support and participation in a cruel regime. It doesn't matter whether I am watching The Godfather or Soy Cubba or Havana, the exhilaration is the same.Robert Redford and director Sydney Pollack join together in what is billed as Casblanca in the Caribbean. Redford is great as usual and may be a worthy successor to Bogart. The dialog in the film was also good, as was the score - beautiful music! Of course, I was excited to see Lena Olin (the Ingrid Bergman character). As a big fan of Auturo Perez-Reverte, I enjoyed seeing her in The Ninth Gate and am glad she is here in her first American film. She was magnificent.Raul Julia played her husband. He always adds to any film he appears in.

Still boyish Redford plays Jack Weil, a professional gambler who falls in love with a Swedish-American-Mexican (?) expat when turning up in Batista-era Cuba to deal the hand of his life. Tough luck, as the lady (Lina Olin as Roberta Duran, who delivers a worthy effort) is married to a local revolutionary. When Roberta and her husband Arturo are arrested by the regime, Jack's life takes a turn. Sounds like a good plot with all the ingredients that make for a great historic romance? Sure, but Pollack's handling of the matter is far from brilliant. For one, the set looks quirky at all times and no attempts at Film Noir lighting would change that. It actually starts with the art deco typeset in the opener, which is rather reminiscent of late seventies' Florida decadence than of pre-revolutionary Cuba. Too slick all the way, as are the character depictions. Unlike similar movies where the characters' inner turmoil is echoed by the chaos that surrounds them (most famously, "Gone with the Wind"), "Havana" never comes to grips with the setting it has chosen. From there on (and maybe even as a direct result thereof), the rest is mainly static, phoney and unconvincing, as is, most notably, the depiction of army manouevres. SPOILER: At some point, two cranky airplanes drop their bombs on an empty corn field, even prompting the character of Lina to wonder aloud who they're shooting at... Unwittingly hilarious. Partly reminiscent of "Under the Volcano" (Mexican revolution, decadence, impossible love affair...), though that was at least partly redeemed by a grand finale. And yes, it is clearly a (sad) remake of "Casablanca". And no, despite the heavy-handed hint in the dialogues, Olin is not Garbo.