Trailer Trashin’: Nick Frost Gets His Groove Back in Cuban Fury
Let me start by apologizing for my longer-than-expected absence, dear readers. I’ve been very busy lately, and there’s been a serious lack of trailers which I felt compelled to write about. But I’m finally back, and this week I’m revisiting the upcoming British comedy Cuban Fury.
Premise: Former teen salsa champion Bruce Garrett (Nick Frost) is now a sad-sack engineer. But his passion for dancing is re-ignited by his crush on his gorgeous new boss Julia (Rashida Jones) and the only way he can win her over is by mastering the art of dance. Now all Bruce needs to do is rediscover his inner passion.
My take: Longtime readers of Trailer Trashin’ know of my love of British comedies. I’m not sure what it is, but they just tend to appeal to me in a way that most modern American comedies don’t. One such film I’ve had my eye on is Cuban Fury, a romantic comedy starring Nick Frost, best known for his work in Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), and The World’s End (2013). This is the second UK trailer for Cuban Fury, and it underscores why I really hope it gets released stateside.
As I said last time, the cast is the main thing that has me interested in Cuban Fury. Frost has proven what a great comedic actor he is, and I definitely think he can carry a film like this on his own. I’m a little disappointed that we don’t see more of Rashida Jones as Julie, but I’m sure she’ll be good in the role, and I can’t wait to see her play opposite Frost. We get some more of Chris O’Dowd as Drew, Bruce’s romantic rival, and it looks like he’ll be a great comic antagonist for Frost. We don’t see much of Olivia Colman as Sam Garrett, Bruce’s sister, but I’m interested to see how big of a role she has. This trailer also shows some more of what might be my favorite bit of casting, which is the legendary Ian McShane as the dance instructor. McShane is famous for his roles in dark, complex TV dramas like Deadwood and Kings, so it should be a fun change of pace to see him in something comedic. We also see a bit more with Kayvan Novak as Bejan, Bruce’s fellow dance student, and it looks like he should be a fun supporting player.
This trailer also shows off the film’s humor, and I like that it doesn’t reuse many of the jokes that were featured in the first trailer. My favorite moment is the brief scene of Bruce getting dance instruction from McShane’s character – “Legs of a stallion, arms of an eagle. I said an eagle, not a f***ing heron.” We also get some great bits from Drew, and O’Dowd is clearly enjoying himself playing this alpha male d-bag who is filthy-minded to such an absurd degree. Of course, the idea of Frost as a salsa dancer is inherently funny, and those scenes – both the regular dancing and the dance fights between Bruce and Drew – look like they’ll be a lot of fun to watch.
Nick Frost in “Cuban Fury.” © 2013 – StudioCanal.
There’s really not much I can complain about here. This is a great trailer for what looks like it could be a really fun movie. While the plot is treading pretty familiar ground, the talent of the cast and the strength of the humor makes me think this could be a winner. When Cuban Fury finally makes its way to this side of the Atlantic, I will definitely be checking it out.
Starring: Nick Frost, Rashida Jones, Olivia Colman, Chris O’Dowd, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ian McShane, Alexandra Roach, Rory Kinnear, and Kayvan Novak
Director: James Griffiths
Writer: Jon Brown
Timothy Monforton
