Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights

I'll admit it if you will. "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights" is a pelvis-gyrating, ponytail-releasing, shirt-unbuttoning good time. It's not innovative, but after watching this movie, I left the theater inspired - swinging my hips and singing "Cuba!" under my breath all the way back to work.

This sequel has almost the same plot as the 1987 original, making it inextricably linked to its Catskills forefather. If you watched and re-watched the first, memorizing dance routines and lines - say it with me now: "Nobody puts Baby in a corner" - you will joyously recognize and root for the second. And here, step-by-step, is why:

Dirty Dancing 1: Jennifer Grey's Baby is an overachieving, bookish teenager ripped from her mid-'60s routine to go on vacation with her family and play shuffleboard.
Havana Nights: Romola Garai's Katey is an overachieving, bookish teenager ripped from St. Louis to go live at the luxurious Oceana Hotel in 1958 Havana, where her father has taken an executive position at Ford.

Dirty Dancing 1: Baby meets and falls for forbidden fruit: resort dance instructor Johnny, played by Patrick Swayze ("Road House").
Havana Nights: Katey meets and falls for forbidden fruit: resort waiter Javier, played by Diego Luna ("Y Tu Mama Tambien").

Dirty Dancing 1: Johnny shows Baby the steamy side of resort life: the staff lounge, where the young help, sweaty and momentarily liberated from their senior citizen overlords, dance the night away.
Havana Nights: Javier shows Katey the steamy side of Havana life: nightclub La Rosa Negra, where the young locals, sweaty and waiting for political liberation from dictator Fulgencio Batista, dance the night away.

Dirty Dancing 1: Unnecessary side plot alert: Johnny's dance partner gets knocked up and has a botched abortion.
Havana Nights: Unnecessary side plot alert: Javier's brother is out to avenge his father's death by supporting Fidel Castro's revolution

Dirty Dancing 1: Awkward Baby can't dirty-dance, but she and Johnny enter into a dance contest anyway. Many great sequences follow: Baby bares her midriff, practices moves on a bridge and masters the routine's big lift in the water.
Havana Nights: Awkward Katey can't dirty-dance, but she and Javier enter into a dance contest anyway. Many great sequences follow: Katey starts wearing low-cut little numbers, practices moves on a hotel path and masters the routine's big lift in the water.

Dirty Dancing 1: Baby's uptight father (who used to be a young med student and was probably pretty fun in his day) is appalled when he finds out that his little girl has been cavorting with the lowly staff. Dad is played by TV star Jerry Orbach.
Havana Nights: Katey's uptight mother (who used to be a ballroom dancer and was probably pretty fun in her day) is appalled when she finds out that her little girl has been cavorting with the Latinos. Mom is played by TV star Sela Ward.

Dirty Dancing 1: Baby and Johnny dance!
Havana Nights: Katey and Javier dance!

So you get my drift? "Havana Nights" is a lovely piece of movie nostalgia, an 86-minute strut down memory lane. Sure, the rich girl/poor boy conflicts are formulaic, and perhaps even the power of movement itself is given too much weight (except for those of us who believe a good shake really can inspire). But even if you never saw Jennifer Grey's first nose and didn't spend hours in your bedroom lip-synching to the soundtrack, the dancing, music and Luna's natural performance are fabulous enough to overcome the admittedly shallow plot.

It's a film in which the ridiculous is sublime: Swayze appears as a nameless resort dance instructor, looking older in 1958 than he did in 1963. It's a leap in logic, but I was thrilled to see him, allowing that if anyone could age backwards, it would be Swayze.

Maybe I'm just a pushover. But I loved every corny, predictable minute of this sugary remake. It's called entertainment.