In the ’80s, when he was a young lad, Bruce heard the siren’s call. More likely, it was Gloria Estefan’s call. The “rhythm is gonna getcha,” and it did. As a teen, he danced salsa with his sister Sam all over England. They won
contests. He was a devil in Cuban heels and spangly pants — “Cuban Fury.”
But then the teenage bullying got the best of him, and “the fire in my heels,
it just went out.” His teacher, his hairy-chested dance guru (Ian McShane) was
crushed.
Decades later, gravity and the British diet have caught up with him. Bruce
(Nick Frost of “Hot Fuzz” and “The World’s End”) doesn’t dance and barely
exercises. He works as an industrial machine designer at an engineering firm, is
still bullied and has only his fellow losers, drinking and golfing buddies, for
comfort.
“Have you had any contact with a member of the opposite sex in which money
does not change hands?” is their weekly query.
But there’s a new single woman at work — his American boss (Rashida Jones).
She is approachable and ever-so-fine. If only Bruce could keep her out of the
arms of the office Irish Lothario (Chris O’Dowd). If only Bruce wasn’t “a two.
She’s a ten…It’s like a butterfly going out with a parsnip.”
If only they had something in common. Oh, but they do.
“Cuban Fury” is a quite funny if entirely predictable farce built around the
sight gag of portly Nick Frost kicking up his heels on the dance floor. He is
the latest in long line of graceful men of girth, a nimble comedic butterball.
And this film is a giggle of a showcase for him, a silly romance that surrounds
him with an over-the-top villain (O’Dowd of “Bridesmaids”), an over-the-top guru
(McShane, who was born to wear tan in a can) and a quirky-cute and accessible
Jones, now on TV’s “Parks and Recreation.”
O’Dowd makes a wonderful creep, given all the lines a ladies man would ever
need to scare off the competition.
“Women like that use guys like you to get advice about guys like me.”</P>
McShane’s dance teacher, Ron Parfitt, runs a dance studio and salsa club long
past salsa’s expiration date (“Dancing with the Stars” brought it back). He
wants to see Bruce back “in a pair of one and a half inch heels.” He wants him
quoting Cuban crook Tony Montana from “Scarface.”
“Say HELLO to my leetle friend!”
He wants him to remember that yoga nothing on salsa when it comes to
cutely-named positions.
“Arms of an eagle! Legs of a stallion!”
As juicy as his support is, it is Frost who totes this formula funny business
across the finish line with sweaty skill and aplomb. We believe he can dance. We
believe he MUST dance.
And thanks to him, we can even believe the parsnip has a shot with a
butterfly. If only for 90 minutes.
