Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights

Chicago Tribune Allison Benedikt

A pelvis-gyrating, ponytail-releasing, shirt-unbuttoning good time.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Sufficiently original and engaging to be called merely "Havana Nights" but will no doubt get a boost by the reference to the popular 1987 "Dirty Dancing."

Variety David Rooney

Superficial but entertaining new pic offers equal parts freshness and kitsch appeal set to a pulsating Latin soundtrack.

Newsweek David Ansen

This sweet, sometimes clunky chick flick is a likable teen romance, but not likely to arouse the giddy swoons Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey generated back in ’87.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Even as the prosaic script gets lost in the intoxicating fantasy of the bloodless revolution, the hot heartbeat of the music drives the film with pure energy.

Rolling Stone Guy Ferland

Luna and Garai struggle to look like they're having the time of their life. But the movie, more wan than wicked, proves you can't go home again.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

Not a sequel, not a prequel, but a "reimagining" as the producers say. And they're basically correct, although I wouldn't put any real emphasis on the "imagination" aspect of that term.

TV Guide Angel Cohn

Katey and Javier's dramatically expedient relationship is nowhere near as interesting as the Cuban Revolution, which is relegated to window dressing.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

It's only possible to have the time of your life once, and, for this franchise, that was in 1987.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Contains all the elements of a satisfying teen genre picture, but they've been compromised out of existence.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

There are two sparks of light amid the trifling dialogue and bad faux-'80s love-on-the-beach montages in Havana Nights, and they are the film's costars.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

Has its modest charms.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Bland though it is, "Havana Nights" could be the start of a globe-bettering franchise -- and across history, too: "Dirty Dancing: Monticello Mornings"; "Dirty Dancing: Gaza Strip Afternoons."

Salon.com Charles Taylor

The plot construction here is especially lazy. The whole movie is built toward the dance competition.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

The plot of "Nights" will occupy only 10 or 12 brain cells.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

[Garai and Luna] must be given credit for their presence and charisma in Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, and together with the film's general ambiance, they do a lot to make amends for the lockstep plot.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

The movie's mix of erotic Latin dance and vaguely liberal politics should have young girls swooning in the aisles.

San Francisco Chronicle Carla Meyer

Swayze's presence crosses the line from curious to bizarre and adds a heavy layer of cheese to Havana Nights.

Portland Oregonian Barry Johnson

At its best during the anachronistic nightclub scenes and anytime prolonged dancing is on screen. It's mostly music video stuff, but the young actors are likable enough, and the film works up just enough momentum to give it some significance.

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

The dance sequences might have saved it, were it not for the fact that director Guy Ferland seems to have learned everything he knows about (over) shooting and (blindly) cutting such scenes from watching "Moulin Rouge" and "Chicago."

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

It's disappointing the film is so sketchy and underdeveloped. The filmmakers may have sold their story short.

USA Today Mike Clark

If you can't find a more scintillating brand of dirty to enjoy during your own nights (Helena or Hoboken), you're not trying very hard.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jennie Punter

Despite being set in 1958 Cuba, Havana Nights sticks to the formula. This would be perfectly acceptable if the dancing was "dirtier" and if there was a spark between the young couple.

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

About three-quarters of the way through, Havana Nights suddenly becomes laugh-out-loud awful, with dreadful, lame lines delivered painfully badly - as if a different screenwriter and director had taken over for the movie's final act.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

In the end, they are only moments, and even at a merciful 86 minutes, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights feels formidably long.

Film Threat Kevin Carr

This cinematic train wreck reminds me of when Hollywood decided to cash in on the success of “Chinatown” by making a sequel...

Washington Post Mark Jenkins

The movie is still a routine Hollywood high school morality play.

Dallas Observer Melissa Levine

Silly, misguided, formulaic and largely a piece of trash, but it's not quite a disaster. There's the dancing and the music and the sunlight.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

It's one of the rare films for which a blooper reel would be redundant.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

This belated "reimagining" is as beguiling as a dried-out palm tree.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Has some good music and hot dancing -- filmed choppily -- but it completely lacks the magic of its predecessor.

Village Voice Tricia Romano

Havana Nights es mucho frío -- the only titter of excitement comes in a cameo from a strangely reptilian Patrick Swayze.