Havana

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Matthew D @OceanSage Nov 7, 2025 Robert Redford and Lena Olin cannot even save this seemingly endless movie. Redford is just his gambler from The Sting, but who barely plays cards as Cuba goes through a revolution. Lena's performance is all over the place. Sydney Pollack's direction cannot decide if he wants to focus on the political torture, card games, or shirtless Robert Redford. Raul Julia is barely in this film and that is not a good thing. Once he disappears, so does the momentum. Havana feels like 5 hours long with nearly nothing happening, only to go for the Casablanca ending. What a complete bore that's only saved by Redford's charismatic acting. See more red t @RT43513976 Jan 11, 2023 Super Disappointed that how underwhelming and not good this is. The acting is actually one of the only consistent things with this. It's good throughout with solid chemistry between the two leads with Redford being the best thing in this. He is consistently good. In addition, the Cinematography is well done also with well framed shots and nice sets and locations. And that sums up this films main problem really well, every scene is well shot and well acted but the problem is when you start putting it together it doesn't form a strong cohesive story. The editing is Bad in this because it loses focus by a huge amount in the middle. Is this Jack's Story about his gambling? Is it about the Civil War? Havana? The Love Interest? This film never is able to strike a consistent tone. And that leads to really bad pacing. This film NEVER builds any tension or emotional investment despite the good acting because it never forms a cohesive story because of the lack of focus and just moves at a SUPER slow pace because its bloated with too many scenes and just sort of ends. I expected a lot of action with the fall of the regime but it just ended. If this would've had a significant amount of scenes cut and had more action instead of slow expose love scenes than this could have been significantly better because the plot isn't flawed it's just really lacking any focus and pacing. Skip This It's Not Good. See more Apr 18, 2021 Always been one of my favorite movies. While Redford was admittedly advanced for the part, his grizzled, worn and weary vibe still fit the aims and ambitions of the character, Jack Weil. Taking place in a time and era very much in flux, I thought the movie did an amazing job balancing the political and social intrigue of the time with the romance at the heart of the movie. While the world shifts under their feet, following devastating events for Bobby and opposing Weil's ultimate goal at untold riches, their undeniable attraction provides them a glimpse to something greater than they'd ever considered before. Somewhat of a history buff, I believe we can legitimately look back at these last days of 1959 in Cuba as a lynchpin for everything that followed, starting when Castro scared President Batista off on his plane, changing history forever. In the end, these are two people finding themselves in the middle of something so much bigger than themselves, and this movie allows you to follow their story as they make their way through it. Many say this is simply a rip-off of Bogart and Bergman's Casablanca. If that's the standard the film has been raised to, well, they can take that as the ultimate compliment. See more steve d @RT35616104 Jul 10, 2020 Boring and unromantic. See more Jan 28, 2020 Sydney Pollack, Robert Redford. The critical reviews are hogwash. Great show. Doesn't pander to the inexperienced. See more Jul 5, 2019 Robert Redford looks a bit weathered in this one, but less weathered when he takes on 2 American foxes half his age in a menage a trois after viewing a Live Sex show in downtown Havana. This seems out of sorts in a Redford movie, I mean the soft porn angle, but all goes back on track in Gatsby-like fashion when he falls for the sultry Bobby character played by the former beauty queen Lena Olin. The director seems fascinated with Olin's smoldering eyes and pouty lips because the close-ups come fast and furious. Is this a match made in Heaven? The meandering script makes me thing "What in the World is Going On?" as I try to dig into memory banks about what exactly went on in the Bay of Pigs and how is what I'm seeing related. I fear the script is flawed historically, and why have the Cubans of Wealth and power suddenly not scrambling around after Bautista flees when Fidel takes control Havana? This flick has a few good moments but disappoints overall and is somewhat boring. See more Read all reviews

Havana

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