The Mambo Kings

1992

Action / Drama / Music

6
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 82% · 28 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 68% · 5K ratings
IMDb Rating 6.4/10 10 6398 6.4K

mambo

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Plot summary

The Mambo Kings tells the story of César and Nestor Castillo, brothers and aspiring musicians who flee from Cuba to America in search of the American Dream.

Director

Arne Glimcher Photo
Arne Glimcher

Top cast

Antonio Banderas Photo
Antonio Banderas as Nestor Castillo
Armand Assante Photo
Armand Assante as Cesar Castillo
June Brown Photo
June Brown as Portly Woman
Yul Vazquez Photo
Yul Vazquez as Flaco - The Mambo Kings Band
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
915.21 MB
1280*720
English 2.0
R
Subtitles
25 fps
1 hr 39 min
Seeds 3
1.66 GB
1904*1072
English 2.0
R
Subtitles
25 fps
1 hr 39 min
Seeds 3

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Wuchak 6 / 10

_**Dynamic Latin dance performers in America in the

_**Dynamic Latin dance performers in America in the 50s**_ Two brothers flee Cuba in the early 50s in search of the American Dream playing mambo music. The older sibling, Cesar, is a natural showman and businessman (Armand Assante) whereas the younger brother, Nestor, is a reserved composer (Antonio Banderas). The women in their lives are played by curvy Cathy Moriarty and Maruschka Detmers. "The Mambo Kings" (1992) is reminiscent of “The Cotton Club” (1984) mixed with the later “Pollock” (2000) and maybe a little “Dirty Dancing” (1987). While not quite as good as those, it’s still worth checking out, especially if you like mambo or energetic Latin music in general, not to mention the setting of 50’s America. Assante is convincing, performing with charisma and gusto, while Banderas is effective as the sensitive and sincere younger sibling, although he’s a far cry from the brooding Brando. This was Banderas’ first English-speaking role; he learned his lines phonetically and worked with a dialect coach throughout pre-production and filming. Too much of the movie takes place in clubs or apartments with people smoking, drinking and emoting for my tastes. But the story perks up in the third act with a notable sequence featuring Desi Arnaz, Jr. (I don’t want to say more because I don’t want to give anything away). The film runs 1 hour, 44 minutes, and was shot in Los Angeles. GRADE: B-
Reviewed by CinemaSerf 6 / 10

It’s the early 1950s in Cuba when, after

It’s the early 1950s in Cuba when, after a violent near-death experience, talented musicians “Cesar” (Armand Assante) and his brother “Nestor” (Antonio Banderas) decide that they can make more of a go of things, and stay safer, if they move to the New York. There, their lively and vibrant styles of Latin themed music and dance quickly go down a storm. The former falls for the cigarette seller “Lanna” (Cathy Lake) whilst the latter marries and has a child with “Delores” (Maruschka Detmers) and things look set fair. Their success hasn’t gone unnoticed by local kingpin “Perez” (an unconvincing choice in Roscoe Lee Browne), either, but neither are keen to become one of his earners, so with work becoming just that little bit harder to find, the siblings and their band have tough, even dangerous, choices to make. The story here moves along adequately, and both leads deliver with a confidence that belies their respective limited knowledge of both English and Spanish, but the film is really all about the music and if you’re into your tunes with real heart and soul, and a fair dose of sexually charged rhythm, then these orchestrations are just the ticket. Both Banderas and Assante are capable crooners - especially the former when singing lyrics written in his own native language and ”Beautiful Maria Of My Soul” is really well presented in traditionally theatrical ensemble fashion. The characterisations are a bit on the shallow side, and the film does rather rely on it’s classy production design so what we do end up with here is a bit on the lightweight side, but seeing Desi Arnaz Jr. pop up as his own dad is quite a nice touch as I just sat back and allowed a tide of acoustic nostalgia to engage my ears.
Reviewed by nafps 5 / 10

Get the Soundtrack, Skip Past Most of the Film

The only parts worth seeing are what everyone wanted to see anyway, the musical numbers. As a story, it goes from mediocre to awful in parts.

Start with so many non Cubans playing Cubans. A Frenchman, a Spaniard, a Dutch woman, a Black American. But ironically, perhaps the worst accent comes from Desi Arnaz Jr who makes his father sound like a quacking duck.

Not surprisingly, the strongest performance comes all too briefly from the great Celia Cruz. Would that there were a film and story line worthy of her here. Instead we get a predictable coming to America story we've seen many times before, haphazard and unfocused. You just keep wishing the story would hurry up for the next song.

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