Havana ** (1990, Robert Redford, Lena Olin, Alan Arkin, Tomas Milian, Raul Julia) – Classic Movie Review 5042

Director Sydney Pollack’s good-looking but disappointing 1990 romantic drama stars Robert Redford as card-playing gambler Jack Weil, who romances icy Nordic beauty Bobby Duran (Lena Olin), who is married to fiery Cuban aristocrat, Arturo Duran (Raul Julia).

Director Pollack’s polished Casablanca-like love story is appropriately set in revolutionary Cuba, in Havana in December 1958. There is a decent, capably acted yarn, strong on decadent atmosphere. And the big budget ($40 million) shows on screen in an impressively handsome production with big, costly sets and lots of extras. However, more heated passion and less charmless talky footage would have been twice as good.

Judith Rascoe and David Rayfiel’s screenplay is not particularly distinguished, but that there is no real chemistry between Redford and Olin is the film’s fatal flaw. There are compensations in a superb production. Owen Roizman’s score and Dave Grusin’s cinematography are outstanding.

But, overall, too long (144 minutes) and too overblown, it is not a really good film, and it was a costly flop. It grossed only $9,243,140 at the US box office.

Thank heaven that they did not actually try to remake Casablanca, like rumours suggested Redford was planning at the time.

Also in the cast are Tomas Milian, Mark Rydell, Daniel Davis, Tony Plana, Betsy Brantley, Lise Cutter, Richard Farnsworth, Vasek Simek, Fred Asparagus, Richard Portnow, Dion Anderson, Carmine Caridi, James Medina, Joe Lala, Salvador Levy and Bernie Pollack.

The main set of a quarter-mile long street surrounded by façades of casinos, restaurants and hotels took 20 weeks to build. Interiors were shot in replicated casino floors, room suites and cafes. The Prado casino was replicated at a disused air base in the Dominican Republic, with 300 men using more than 80 neon signs made in the US and shipped over.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5042

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