Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.
DipitySkillful an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.
Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.
Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.
Lee Eisenberg When I watched "The Mambo Kings", I knew little if anything about that kind of music, so it sort of made the movie even more of a treat to hear it for the first time. In fact, I try to imagine living in New York in the early '50s and hearing the brothers bring their music to America for the first time; it must have been an experience unlike any other. But no matter, Armand Assante and Antonio Banderas did a really impressive job in their roles. It's no accident that this movie started Banderas on the career path that he's had ever since.Is this the greatest movie of all time? Not by any stretch. But I, for one, always like to learn about new types of music, so I have to give the movie credit for that. I recommend it. Also starring Cathy Moriarty and Desi Arnaz Jr.
Acapulqueno A better than average re-hash of the standard "rags-to-riches" formula: two Cuban musicians go to New York and overcome great hardships to find success as "The Mambo Kings." Spanish speakers, who might otherwise be a receptive audience, find it strange to watch two attractive but very white guys -- one French (Armand Assante) and one Spanish (Antonio Banderas) -- pretending to be Cuban without even trying for a Cuban accent. Even Desi Arnaz, Jr., playing his father, has a pronounced English accent. Linda Ronstadt, by contrast, does a wonderful job on Perfidia, but that song is only used as background music.The incomparable Celia Cruz, whose life is a genuine Cuban rags-to-riches story, has a small part, but is mostly limited to singing in English except for a bit of the classic "Guantanamera". It's too bad the producers didn't decide to film her story instead: at least she, her music and her speech are all genuine Cuban.
4chaffins This movie was not nearly as good as I had heard. Being a musician myself, some of the references made sense. But as usual, Hollywood took over and it became the normal melodrama. Musically, the movie was magnificent. Whether you are a fan of Cuban music or not, it is sure to pull you in.Antonio Banderas was very believable, but Armand made me want to turn the channel. This is very much of a disappointment for me since I have enjoyed Assantes work in many other films. Kudos to Talisa Soto, we need to hear and see much more of her. She was very much underused. She can be seen (but not enough) in the Bond flick "License to Kill".
george.schmidt THE MAMBO KINGS (1992) *** Armand Assante, Antonio Banderas, Cathy Moriarty, Maruschka Detmers, Desi Arnaz Jr. Flamboyant and fun watching film about two immigrant Cuban brothers in 1950s NYC trying to make the big time with their style and music. Banderas is particularly good as the heartbroken younger sibling and the soundtrack is memorably poignant and lavish set designs as well.
