Nick Frost is a funny man, but he’s a bit of a bridesmaid when it comes to his film roles. Sidekicks and supporting roles have been the entirety of his career, but no more. Step aside Simon Pegg, the dance floor belongs to Frost now!
Cuban Fury stars Frost as Bruce Garrett, a chubby chump who falls for the new girl (Rashida Jones) at work but finds himself in competition with the office Lothario (Chris O’Dowd). Bruce discovers that no woman can resist a dancing man so he sets out to learn and master the art of the salsa dance.
Check out the first trailer for Cuban Fury below.
The film doesn’t appear to shy away from humor derived from Frost’s weight, but thankfully it doesn’t look to be a simple “funny fat man” kind of movie either. The recent (and criminally underseen) The World’s End highlighted both Frost’s acting ability and comedic skills, but it also revealed a gifted physical performer. Dancing, and salsa dancing in particular, seems like a good fit.
The film doesn’t have a U.S. release date yet, but if lesser Pegg fare like Run Fat Boy Run and How to Lose Friends and Alienate People can get limited openings here a dance-themed comedy starring the incredibly likable Frost deserves the same opportunity. There aren’t a lot of purely comedic dance films, well, unless you count the Step Up franchise, but the dance-film genre has spawned some unlikely hits before. Hell, the Richard Gere/Jennifer Lopez-led Shall We Dance banked $170 million worldwide, and not for nothing but Frost/Jones are a far more appealing couple.
Cuban Fury opens on Valentine’s Day in the UK, but don’t fret little ones. We here in the U.S. will be getting remakes (of varying sincerity) of About Last Night, Endless Love, and Robocop on the same day.
