Excerpt from Cinematic Codes Review: Spring 2016 Issue: for visuals see: https://anaphoraliterary.com/journals/ccr/film-reviews-spring-2016/
I now started skipping some of the films I disliked in my recent viewing history on Netflix because writing about the problems in Hotel Transylvania 2 was pretty depressing. I watched the bulk of this feature while I was designing or going on about my chores, but the ending made me chuckle and was an unusual surprise that was better than the average formulaic resolution. "Hey, you wanna kill a gangster for me?" asks a girl he meets at the bar, Rita, played by Rya Kihlstedt. "Ah Sure " Jack Petty, who's supposedly in Havana on business, played by the writer/ director, Gil Bellows, answers with a smirk. "You're right I shouldn't have told you all that. I should've just shut da hell up. I'm sorry. It was nice talking with you. But on this trip we should both try having some fun, after all, we're in paradise right?" writes down and hands him her hotel room number. The bulk of the film is action, be it fighting, dancing, playing ball or otherwise touring Havana. The few conversations Jack ends up having are all significant in the surprise ending.
Fig. 11. Gil Bellows, left, and Greg Wise in 3 Days in Havana.
The plot line up until the end is that Jack is an innocent business-minded tourist that ends up being roped into illicit drug usage, prostitution and other shady and seductive activities by an assassin, Harry Smith that befriends him. "In a few hours you're gonna have all the girls of Cuba trying to start a fire in your crotch. Salsa, mi amigo, eh? Can you smile, eh?" Harry Smith, played by Greg Wise, tries to convince his apparently hesitant new friend, Jack. "Yea, I can do that, yea," Jack says casually. "Just keep them in front of you. Yea? They'll do the rest " Harry adds. The night does not go as planned for Harry, who does not manage to get his supposed hit. But it starts out as if he can manage the problems around him when he threats to cut a guy that objects to Jack urinating in an alley.
Fig. 12. Greg Wise, left, and Paul Pardon.
In what at first seems like a friendly conversation between an aristocratic elderly assassination administrator (who I assume is meant to symbolize the Queen of England) and the drunkard hit-man, she gives him the marching orders, and mentions that she is displeased with how he managed to kill relatives that were not intended hit targets in an earlier assignment.
Fig. 13. Greg Wise, left, and Phyllida Law (The Broker).
Jack seems to be attempting to report the crimes he is witnessing to his embassy, but they end up torturing him when they assume that he is the hit-man. They eventually let him go when he does not talk. The plot is too sketchy here, and it is unclear how they fail to investigate Jack's background, and just let him go after the very serious offense of torturing him. In practice, detainees who are torture are usually detained for a very long time and eventually brought on trial, as they can otherwise file charges against illegal detainment and torture without sufficient cause to have even been detained beyond the short interval of the torture. Clearly, Gil Bellows did not do much research on this topic. He manages to hides this by making most conversations casual and action-based instead of getting into the political, legal or criminal meanings behind the action sequence.
Fig. 14. Gil Bellows recovering after torture.
The majority of this film was executed in a drunkard hobo acting style, and this was what kept my attention distracted on other things as I was watching it. Gil Bellows acts more like a hippie mountaineer that just smoked a bag of stolen weed than like the businessman or possibly hit-man that he is supposed to be portraying. The clothing on not only the Havana natives, but also on the leads, looks like it was bought in a local, Havana thrift store. This is both a good thing, because it's authentic, and a bad thing because the actors with receding headlines and pimples are not assisted by fancy clothing to make them attractive. There usually has to be something mesmerizing in a film to keep the viewer stuck on the screen: the beauty of the actors, the clothing, the scenery, or any other consistent element on the screen. Instead, the places depicted are dirty and pastel, just like all other ingredients. On the other hand, it is refreshing to see a film that looks from start-to-end like it was shot on-location in Havana, as places like this probably could not be mimicked in a set. Overall, I would recommend watching this movie, but I cannot guarantee that you will not be a bit bored and annoyed by the slack performances until the very end.
Title: 3 Days in Havana Directed/ Written by: Gil Bellows, Tony Pantages Stars: Olunike Adeliyi, Gil Bellows (Jack Petty), Ariel Cardenas, Greg Wise (Harry Smith) Genre: Comedy; Crime Running Time: 83 min Release: 2013
I now started skipping some of the films I disliked in my recent viewing history on Netflix because writing about the problems in Hotel Transylvania 2 was pretty depressing. I watched the bulk of this feature while I was designing or going on about my chores, but the ending made me chuckle and was an unusual surprise that was better than the average formulaic resolution. "Hey, you wanna kill a gangster for me?" asks a girl he meets at the bar, Rita, played by Rya Kihlstedt. "Ah Sure " Jack Petty, who's supposedly in Havana on business, played by the writer/ director, Gil Bellows, answers with a smirk. "You're right I shouldn't have told you all that. I should've just shut da hell up. I'm sorry. It was nice talking with you. But on this trip we should both try having some fun, after all, we're in paradise right?" writes down and hands him her hotel room number. The bulk of the film is action, be it fighting, dancing, playing ball or otherwise touring Havana. The few conversations Jack ends up having are all significant in the surprise ending.
Fig. 11. Gil Bellows, left, and Greg Wise in 3 Days in Havana.
The plot line up until the end is that Jack is an innocent business-minded tourist that ends up being roped into illicit drug usage, prostitution and other shady and seductive activities by an assassin, Harry Smith that befriends him. "In a few hours you're gonna have all the girls of Cuba trying to start a fire in your crotch. Salsa, mi amigo, eh? Can you smile, eh?" Harry Smith, played by Greg Wise, tries to convince his apparently hesitant new friend, Jack. "Yea, I can do that, yea," Jack says casually. "Just keep them in front of you. Yea? They'll do the rest " Harry adds. The night does not go as planned for Harry, who does not manage to get his supposed hit. But it starts out as if he can manage the problems around him when he threats to cut a guy that objects to Jack urinating in an alley.
Fig. 12. Greg Wise, left, and Paul Pardon.
In what at first seems like a friendly conversation between an aristocratic elderly assassination administrator (who I assume is meant to symbolize the Queen of England) and the drunkard hit-man, she gives him the marching orders, and mentions that she is displeased with how he managed to kill relatives that were not intended hit targets in an earlier assignment.
Fig. 13. Greg Wise, left, and Phyllida Law (The Broker).
Jack seems to be attempting to report the crimes he is witnessing to his embassy, but they end up torturing him when they assume that he is the hit-man. They eventually let him go when he does not talk. The plot is too sketchy here, and it is unclear how they fail to investigate Jack's background, and just let him go after the very serious offense of torturing him. In practice, detainees who are torture are usually detained for a very long time and eventually brought on trial, as they can otherwise file charges against illegal detainment and torture without sufficient cause to have even been detained beyond the short interval of the torture. Clearly, Gil Bellows did not do much research on this topic. He manages to hides this by making most conversations casual and action-based instead of getting into the political, legal or criminal meanings behind the action sequence.
Fig. 14. Gil Bellows recovering after torture.
The majority of this film was executed in a drunkard hobo acting style, and this was what kept my attention distracted on other things as I was watching it. Gil Bellows acts more like a hippie mountaineer that just smoked a bag of stolen weed than like the businessman or possibly hit-man that he is supposed to be portraying. The clothing on not only the Havana natives, but also on the leads, looks like it was bought in a local, Havana thrift store. This is both a good thing, because it's authentic, and a bad thing because the actors with receding headlines and pimples are not assisted by fancy clothing to make them attractive. There usually has to be something mesmerizing in a film to keep the viewer stuck on the screen: the beauty of the actors, the clothing, the scenery, or any other consistent element on the screen. Instead, the places depicted are dirty and pastel, just like all other ingredients. On the other hand, it is refreshing to see a film that looks from start-to-end like it was shot on-location in Havana, as places like this probably could not be mimicked in a set. Overall, I would recommend watching this movie, but I cannot guarantee that you will not be a bit bored and annoyed by the slack performances until the very end.
Title: 3 Days in Havana Directed/ Written by: Gil Bellows, Tony Pantages Stars: Olunike Adeliyi, Gil Bellows (Jack Petty), Ariel Cardenas, Greg Wise (Harry Smith) Genre: Comedy; Crime Running Time: 83 min Release: 2013