The Mambo Kings (1992)
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83% of critics liked it
(24 reviews) -
61% of users liked it
(6,025 ratings)
New York art dealer Arne Glimcher took his first crack at film directing with this florid, high-energy romance about two brothers who flee Cuba in the early 1950s to make it as musicians in the United States. Cynthia Cidre wrote the literate screenplay adapted from Oscar Hijuelos's Pulitzer… More New York art dealer Arne Glimcher took his first crack at film directing with this florid, high-energy romance about two brothers who flee Cuba in the early 1950s to make it as musicians in the United States. Cynthia Cidre wrote the literate screenplay adapted from Oscar Hijuelos's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love. Cesar (Armand Assante) and Nestor Castillo (Antonio Banderas) are popular musicians on Havana's club circuit, but when they make enemies of the wrong people, they are forced to leave for New York City, the moody Nestor leaving behind his true love. In New York, the brothers work as meat-cutters during the day as Cesar tries to organize a band and make inroads into the lively New York music scene. Soon, as The Mambo Kings, they get club bookings and Cesar falls in love with a sharp-tongued cigarette girl, Lanna Lake (Cathy Moriarty), and Nestor with the beautiful Delores Fuentes (Maruschka Detmers), who wants to be a teacher. Cesar concentrates on singing and managing the band, while Nestor plays the trumpet and writes emotional songs of love. All seems to be going well until Cesar antagonizes the moneymen on the Latin nightclub circuit and they finds themselves playing bar mitzvahs. But after they're discovered by Desi Arnaz (Desi Arnaz Jr.), the group is prominently featured on I Love Lucy. Their popularity soars and they cut a successful album called "Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love." Cesar is glorying in his success, but Nestor is disappointed and longs to return to Cuba. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Directed By
- Arne Glimcher
- Genres
- Drama, Musical & Performing Arts, Art House & International
R,
- In Theaters
- Feb 28, 1992 Wide
- Studio
- Warner Bros. Pictures
Critic Reviews
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Derek Adams, Time Out
A spirited evocation of the mambo craze which swept post-war America, adapted from Oscar Hijuelos' Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.
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Vincent Canby, New York Times
It's as if there were a terrible telephone connection between the film's vivid sound track and its tepid romantic melodrama, to which the music is supposed to give style and substance.
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Desson Thomson, Washington Post
"The Mambo Kings" is so pumped up with life it threatens to burst. It's beautifully filmed and flashily edited. It pulsates with rhythmic ecstasy. It throbs, it sweats, it pounds, it undulates.
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Rita Kempley, Washington Post
A corny, eye-filling concoction of sound and strife, it recalls the heyday of a dance craze with the Technicolor splash of a 1950s musical.
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
In some ways this story is as old as the movies, but "The Mambo Kings" is so filled with energy, passion and heedless vitality that it seems new, anyway.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Armand Assante
as Cesar Castillo
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Antonio Banderas
as Nestor Castillo
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Cathy Moriarty
as Lanna Lake
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Maruschka Detmers
as Delores Fuentes
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Desi Arnaz Jr.
as Desi Arnaz Sr.
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Roscoe Lee Browne
as Fernando Perez
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Celia Cruz
as Evalina Montoya
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Vondie Curtis-Hall
as Miguel Montoya
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Talisa Soto
as Maria Rivera
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Joe Petruzzi
as Carlo Ricci
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Theodora Castellanos
as Blanca
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Lázaro Pérez
as Pablo
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Jose Alberto
as Johnny Casanova
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Karen Assante
as Karen
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Anita Banderas
as Anita
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Doug Barron
as Mike Wells
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Stephanie Blake
as Stripper
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June Brown
as Portly Woman
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Pablo Calogero
as Ramon The Mambo Kings Band
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Helena Carroll
as Mrs. Shannon
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Scott Cohen
as Bernardito The Mambo Kings Band
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Joe Conzo
as Killer
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Jonathan Del Arco
as Young Cesar
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Jessica Z. Diamond
as Secretary
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Thomas F. Duffy
as Mulligan
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Ahn Duong
as Ismelda Perez
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Jose Duvall
as Nando
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Colleen Fitzpatrick
as Redhead on Bus
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Carlos Gomez
as Creep
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Cordelia González
as Anna Maria
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Frank Grillo
as Machito
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Mario Grillo
as Mario The Mambo Kings Band
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John Herrera
as Luis Fajardo
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Ryan Howell
as Kid with Basketball
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Ralph Irizarry
as Pito The Mambo Kings Band
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Pete MacNamara
as Johnny Bing The Mambo Kings Band
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Diane Manzo
as Amanda
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Adrian Martinez
as Pablito
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Valerie McIntosh
as Tracy Blair
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Dawn McKinster
as Poolside Patron
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James Medina
as Manny - The Mambo Kings Band
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Salvador Miranda
as Young Nestor
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Rene Monteaqudo
as Robertico
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Jocelyn O'Brien
as Gina
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Jessica Neal Ortiz
as Leticia
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Miller P.
as Killer's Girlfriend
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Julie Pinson
as 2nd Girlfriend
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Marcos Quintanilla
as Willie The Mambo Kings Band
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Cynthia Santos
as Mario's Girlfriend
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Maiquel Saurez
as Cleaning Woman
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Debra Scott
as Enchantment
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Susie Stillwell
as Club Patron
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J.T. Taylor
as Frankie Suarez The Mambo Kings Band
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Ron Thompson
as Empire MC
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Yul Vázquez
as Flaco The Mambo Kings Band
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Martin Charles Warner
as Mac
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Natalie Zimmerman
as 3rd Girlfriend
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Tito Puente
as Himself
- Billy Hopkins
- Suzanne Smith
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William Thomas
as Xavier
