SnoopyStyle It's 1952 Havana, Cuba. Cesar (Armand Assante) moves to NYC taking younger brother Nestor Castillo (Antonio Banderas) after getting into a dispute over Maria (Talisa Soto). The brothers are amazed at the nightlife and Tito Puente. Cesar falls for brash cigarette girl Lanna Lake (Cathy Moriarty) while Nestor is still in love with Maria. The brothers work odd jobs and play in the clubs at night. Nestor falls for shy Delores (Maruschka Detmers). His song "Beautiful Maria of My Soul" catches Desi Arnaz who elevates the brothers to fame. However it is fleeting as they encounter tragedy.It's a relatively good historical drama. The music is happening. The two actors are terrific. Assante is all energy and Banderas is charming. However the drama isn't that compelling. The story is without surprises. Arne Glimcher is limited as a director. Quite frankly, he has access to great music but he doesn't use it in an interesting way. Moriarty matches Assante's energy but Detmers is a hollow beauty. This a functional music pic but it could be more.

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.

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".

skittles56443 The first time I saw this movie, I cried. It brought out emotions I did not know I had. The performances were phenomenal. I knew Antonio could sing but Armand Assante was a huge surprise! The late, great Celia Cruz acts as sort of a every woman musically narrating the story. Another musical genius, that has since left this world, is Tito Puente. His performance sets up the audience for the electricity that follows. This movie portrayed every form of love know to humans-between family, man and woman and everyone's love of music. The passions that this movie ignites, well, I haven't felt since. I can't wait till it comes out on DVD because my VHS is a little worn. When they start to count down the greatest movies of all time I hope The Mambo Kings is in the top ten!