Havana poster & wallpaper

Alan Arkin, Betsy Brantley, Daniel Davis

When Havana was released in 1990, a lot of reviewers unfavorably compared it to Casablanca, and those comparisons (in addition to audience indifference) turned the film into a box-office...( read more  read more... ) disaster. It deserved a better fate, because, while this is certainly no masterpiece, it's an intelligent and lavishly produced film about a chapter of history--the final days of Cuba under the collapsing Batista regime--that remains largely unfamiliar to the American mainstream. It's a compelling political backdrop for the story of a high-stakes gambler (Robert Redford) who comes to Cuba seeking the big score in poker games, following his expectation that high rollers will bet wildly as the Cuban government crashes around their heads. In Havana, Redford meets the wife (Lena Olin) of a Communist revolutionary (Raul Julia) with ties to Fidel Castro, and their attraction becomes powerfully mutual after her husband is presumed killed by Cuban police. What follows, as Cuba falls and Redford's character is forced into a crisis of conscience, is a mini-epic love story with tragic overtones, handled with great skill (albeit lagging pace) by long-time Redford collaborator Sydney Pollack. True, it's not nearly as memorable as Casablanca, but this is a worthwhile film, especially if you're interested in the political upheavals in pre-Castro Cuba. --Jeff Shannon

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52% liked it

3,023 ratings

R, 145 min.

Directed by: Sydney Pollack

Release Date: December 12, 1990

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DVD Release Date: November 17, 1998

Stats: 97 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (97)

  • Epicouros
    November 5, 2009
    Epicouros
    romanticism , poker and a revolution . An affair , a game of poker and Fidel who takes Havana ...
  • Phonex
    November 5, 2009
    Phonex
    New comment of Casablanka.
  • hiei89
    December 1, 2008
    hiei89
    bravo redford..ma trama poco credibile
  • pedrorock
    November 26, 2008
    pedrorock
    Do you really make everything to a woman??!
  • XxMacheteraxX
    September 9, 2008
    XxMacheteraxX
    Tiis movie was ok. It was too long of a movie without keeping my attention.
  • rizzi2
    July 19, 2008
    rizzi2
    Good, but a bit long... and a bit boring.
  • atulsabnis1
    January 12, 2008
    atulsabnis1
    A Robert Redford Classic! And a classic anyways. The fastest pace of a slow movie, ever!
  • whiteunicornspirit
    October 25, 2007
    whiteunicornspirit
    Robert Redford has his own way
  • cajunpalomino
    August 5, 2007
    cajunpalomino
    This movie started off slower than I wanted, but then it took off!! Redford and Olin were awesome together..
  • sweetonepiper
    April 10, 2007
    sweetonepiper
    kinda long and raul is barely in it but i did like it.

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  • barficake
    February 23, 2009
    barficake
    beautifully captured the event of rebel of 1959 and the love story emerging in the midst of such rebel circumstances
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Havana Trivia

  • Patrick Swayze made a cameo appearance in Dirty Dancing 2 Havana Nights  Answer »
  • Where was Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights filmed?  Answer »
  • True or False... Patrick Swayze had a role in both dirty dancing and dirty dancing 2: Havana nights...  Answer »
  • who were the lead actor and actress in dirty dancing 2:havana nights?  Answer »
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