FILM
I
f you’re looking for the
edgy humor of “Shaun of
the Dead” in Nick Frost’s
recent appearance “Cuban Fury”, you won’t find
it. Cuban Fury is a little
gentler and safer - but
for all that, it taps into a
universal theme of finding one’s inner fire when
it seems as though the
world wants to put it out.
Here, Nick Frost plays
Bruce Garrett, who was
a salsa dancing prodigy
in his childhood until a
bullying incident led him
to hang up the sequined
shirts for good. 20 years
later, he is a shy and overweight mechanical engineer, the butt of jokes by
his entirely unredeemable
co-worker Drew. Drew
(Chris O’Dowd) is a sneering wannabe alpha male
who expects to get any
woman he’s interested in.
When Bruce and Drew’s
new boss (Rashida Jones)
arrives on the scene, she
attracts the attention of
both Bruce, who has a
number of haphazard but
sweet encounters with
her, and Drew, who fig-
ures Bruce is just there as
a foil to make him look
good. When it turns out
that she dances salsa
as well, that’s enough to
make Bruce finally decide
to go back for some salsa dancing lessons with
his old mentor (Ian McShane). He’s in for some
humbling in the dance
studio before he starts to
get his moves back.
From here, the conclusion of the movie is not
too hard to predict. What
makes this movie worth
watching is Bruce’s journey as he has to find the
courage to get back to
what he loved, the humility to be a beginner
again, and the fierceness
to dance wholeheartedly
without fear of disapproval or rejection. (Okay, and
the epic salsa dance fight
scene between Bruce
and Drew is fun too!)
brief cameo by Frost’s
partner from “Shaun of
the Dead”, Simon Pegg.
The movie itself takes
few risks, through it is refreshing to see a leading
character with a different body type being successful in wooing a more
conventionally attractive
woman. But the message
you can take away from
the movie is to be fierce
and take risks, and don’t
let opposition or judgment stop you from doing
what’s in your heart.
Kayvan Novak delivers
a hilarious performance
in the wacky-instigatorfriend role who helps
Bruce shed the engineer
look for something more
flashy. Also watch for a
Pranada Devi is a communications professional living in Toronto, Canada.
She is the Managing Editor of Parvati Magazine, and serves as an advisor
on marketing communications for Parvati’s various projects. Recently, she
edited Parvati’s new book “Confessions of a Former Yoga Junkie”, which is
has gone on to sell out its first two printing runs.