Our Man in Havana (1959)
Last Watch Date - December 25, 2024
Total Times Watched - Once
Comments
I have a fondness for Cuba and the Caribbean in general that I'm not sure really makes much sense. I'm not big on heat or humidity, but I went on vacation to Antigua and really liked it. WHY? I don't know. There's something almost soothing about that level of heat and humidity day in and day out. I'm ALSO a big fan of spy movies, particularly Cold War era stuff. Hey, look, this fits right in!
I went into this knowing two things: 1) it was a novel first, and 2) this has been recommended to me to read and watch FOREVER. I never bothered looking into it too much because I wanted to be surprised. What I did know was that it was a satire and that's about it. I'm not going to ruin any plot points, but saying it's a satire of Cold War era spy shennanigans should get you excited.
Given how old this movie is, you'd expect it to be a bit stale or melodramatic. I suppose you could say it is in some ways, pariticularly in the way men and women speak to one another, but I also felt like it was more "real" in terms of how people spoke to one another when it came to personal relationships. You have some interesting layers to this movie beyond simple satire as well. There are real spy things happening. There are government fiascos. There is sabotage. Plus local politics, which is always fun.
When it comes to acting, it's hard to beat Alec "Obi Wan" Guinness, but you've also got Burl Ives playing the Snowman and talking about Rudolph. There are a bunch of other folks in this movie, so I'm not going to mention them all. They're all serviceable to good, though. All were pretty believable.
This movie is only 107 minutes, too, so it blows by pretty quickly. The pacing is pretty much perfect with no down time, but some interesting twists and turns along the way. Kind of like the twists and turns in a vacuum cleaner's hose...?
Recommended?
Yeah, it was good!
