Andy Garcia is proud of his Cuban heritage and of the brave people in Cuba that stood up to both the corrupt Batista Regime and the brutal Communists that followed. He was so inspired by those who fought the powers and eventually had to flee for their lives to other countries that he worked on the idea for this film for well over a decade before it saw fruition. What we end up with is Garcia’s directorial debut in a film that every cigar-lover should see at least once.
A word about the scenes in the tobacco fields: they were filmed in the Dominican Republic at Chateau de la Fuente. The tobacco grown for use in the film was harvested and turned into a special Opus X “The Lost City” cigar which can be purchased in some locations.
I did say that every cigar lover should see this film, but I cannot say that it is a truly great film. It tells an important story--one that reinforced my own opposition to lifting the Cuban embargo until the Castro regime is removed from power--but it does not do so in a truly spectacular way. Some actors can direct extremely well--Clint Eastwood is a great example. Some actors can only be their best under the guidance of a great director--I always like to cite the example of Ben Affleck, who is pretty decent when the director is excellent, and pretty mediocre the rest of the time. Unfortunately, in my opinion, Andy Garcia is not a “great” director, but merely an adequate one. He is also not an actor who can be at his best under a merely adequate director. So this film suffers in those two ways and it trickles down through the pacing, dialog delivery, and many other little things. I found myself wishing that Garcia had merely acted in the lead role and let a more experienced director craft the telling of this important story.
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