Hijuelos' Pulitzer-Prize winning novel follows one of the Mambo Kings, Cesar Castillo, as he lives the life of a drunk and remembers back in the day when he and his brother Nestor were big musicians. Glimcher, an art dealer making his directorial debut (he also produced such films as GORILLAS IN THE MIST), and writer Cynthia Cidre have made the movie exclusively about the period between 1952-55, when the Castillo brothers were big as musicians. Fans of the novel might be disappointed, but Glimcher and Cidre have not only captured the spirit of the novel, but also made a vibrant musical drama.
We open in Havana, where the Castillos are big stars. However, Nestor (Antonio Banderas), the trumpet player and songwriter, is in love with Maria (Talisa Soto), a gangster's girl, and that gets them into trouble. Cesar (Armand Assante), the singer and frontman, is only able to get his brother and himself out alive if he promises to leave Cuba and Nestor will never see Maria again. So they head to New York City. They move in with relatives, get jobs as meat packers, and quickly get involved with the mambo scene. They form a band with other musicians, and try to break into the business. They also find love; Cesar takes up with Lanna (Cathy Moriarty), a cigarette girl at a nightclub, while Nestor becomes involved with Delores (Maruschka Detmers), a maid for a rich family. But there are also problems for each of them. Cesar refuses to let Fernando (Roscoe Lee Browne), a mobster, run the band, so the band is forced to play weddings and bar mitzvahs. Nestor, meanwhile, is still hung up on Maria, even writing the song "Beautiful Maria O My Soul" for her (naturally, it's never good enough for him). But there's also good fortune for them, as Desi Arnez (played by his son), the legendary entertainer, discovers them, and books them on "I Love Lucy." Finally, there's tragedy.
