A_Different_Drummer Just revisited this film some 16 years after release. The ongoing success of The Americans made me curious as to how it would hold up: 1. If you want better dance and music, pick Flashdance.2. If you want a better story, pick Dirty Dancing.3. At the end of the day, the "hidden ground" in these sorts of Romcoms is that the female audience should (ideally) end up in love with the male lead, and vice versa. On this basis, the movie works. Russell never looked better. While her accent proves elusive in several scenes, her natural grace and movement is mesmerizing.4. While possibly not among the top Romcoms of all times, could possibly be one of the top Keri Russell films in the IMDb archive.

Lady Penelope Maybe the film is too European, because of the football and the cry out of social and political problems but, one thing's for sure, there is very little mambo, or none at all, in this movie. There was plenty of "salsa" and other modern "Latino" music in it, though. Maybe most of the world think that when you talk about mambo or salsa, you can put it all in the same box and say "It's all Latino music". There you are, missing the real concept. The movie was supposed to have told the story of a young footballer, wanting to improve his game by taking lessons of "samba", music originated in Brasil, but unfortunately the samba gets mixed up with the word mambo, and then mixed again with some "buenos días". How long is it going to take filmmakers to realise that it's very easy to find out the differences between different countries, cultures and music.

Eric-1226 I watched this movie wanting (and expecting) to see some great dancing and hear some great Mambo tunes. Instead, I fear I fell victim to utterly false advertising. Where, I ask, WHERE? in this movie is the great Mambo music and dancing that is implied by the title and the box cover??! The story, while thankfully nice and sweet, is nevertheless so lame I couldn't believe somebody could have concocted such a stupid story. I thought it was supposed to be about Mambo, and a dance contest, all wrapped up in a great love-interest kind of story. Well, all that is in there, but the movie, set in Belfast, Ireland, seems to spend most of its time lightly frittering about with boys' soccer, Catholic-Protestant rivalry, soccer, Belfast politics, more soccer, young men with hang-ups, and more soccer. Oh yeah, and there's a dance contest thrown in there somewhere. And then there's a dance finale that is so lame I had to stifle the painful laughter. And it even takes place…(drum roll please…) at halftime during a SOCCER competition!!The dancing (what pathetically little there is) is so minimal and simplistic it looks like it's just a guy and a girl doing a couple of whirls around the dance floor while wearing fancy costumes and lots of makeup. Big Deal!The soundtrack music – with the possible exception of only a couple of Latino-sounding numbers (was that really even Mambo music??) – is just not at all what the title implied (in fact some of the music sounds more like modern Americanized or Hollywoodized pop tunes). Heck, they don't even have much Irish music thrown in (methinks the movie could have used a rousing rendition of Whiskey in the Jar, "Blackball the Daddy-O!").Kerri Russell (as Lucy) is okay, I guess… but maybe I'm only giving her the benefit of the doubt because I liked her so VERY much in one of her earlier films, "The Lottery". But in this film, where she attempts to portray a young Irish woman, well… her Irish accent seems at times very ineffective, almost clumsy. And I'm not sure why they needed to give this part to an American girl anyway. Really, do you mean to tell me that there aren't scores of beautiful young Irish actresses who could have played this part instead? As mentioned above, based on the nature of the movie, there certainly isn't a dauntingly formidable dancing or acting requirement, so I don't think it would have required an endless search for the right lass. Oh well, stupid me, what do I know about the mysteries of casting?Anyway, I can't recommend this movie to anyone, with the possible exception of young teenagers who have absolutely no sense of music or dance appreciation, and who can't tell the difference between a real Irish brogue and a phony one - and who furthermore don't care. As for me, I CARE about getting real value for my entertainment dollar, and I'm sorry to say, I truly feel ripped off by this rather lame and (IMHO) falsely promoted movie. (And no, Seattle isn't really the Mambo capital of the world. I just thought that would sound funny. And besides, I'm tired of Grunge.)

doodnaught What immediately caught my attention was the setting. Not a glorified, beautiful city, but a real, human reflection of Belfast. In terms of the movie, I found the lead male fostered a positive cathartic relationship with the audience, without the stereotypical poor boy/rich girl sympathies. I found, despite my two left feet, the mix of football and samba to be perfect. Although I was drawn aback when actress Keri Russell took the screen, she delivered a thoroughly enjoyable performance. Don't expect cinematic genius, just enjoy the film and its down to earth story.