You won't be disappointed!

Instant Favorite.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

I have shown this video to my Spanish classes for the last several years and it has been accepted with eager minds. It is hard for these students to understand that there is a place so close to the US that will not permit their citizens the freedom that we enjoy. The music is great and Garcia does an excellent job playing the lead role. My students would like to rewrite the ending and may it happier but I explained that in the real world things like this are happening all the time. I hope that someday I will be able to meet Mr. Sandavol. He is coming to my home town in April but I will not be able to attend his concert because I will be in Miami for a wedding that same week-end. Since I am a trumpet player also and about his age, it would be a great opportunity to make is acquaintance.

Who gave the information of this biography? this looked to be very doubtful, and the Cubans may easily argue that this is what they simply call a 'folleton'. The Artemisa man Sandoval is a person that, within the time living in a Cuban system, understood that it was not good for his future and life of his family, but to put him as a 'contra' when he was a young man is doubtful. I saw the first half of the film then gave up because this looked to me DOUBTFUL. If you read the book of another Cuban musician Paquito D' Rivera, 'Mi vida Saxual', you will note that Sandoval was friendly with Paquito but not to share the same political ideas during the 70s as it is shown in the film. It is also a non sense to show the people from the Ministry of Culture in Cuba not knowing the musician Chano Pozo at all, and letting Arturo take away Gillespie (without official authorization)in his 'car' once he arrived in Cuba. The only part, which looked to me real was the the talk between Arturo and the American officer at the USA Embassy in London when Arturo wanted to leave Cuba because the officer raised the right questions.

I have always been an Andy Garcia Fan. The first thing I remember seeing him in was in the 1980's. I think he is a truly GREAT actor. He demonstrates a sensitivity and compassion that I have never seen duplicated by another actor. In this movie, about his beloved Cuba, his performance is without equal. He becomes Arturo. You are there with him and his family, you begin to understand the suffering and pain the revolution brought down upon the Cuban people. It will make you love Cuba, and the Cuban people, even as you hate the regime that destroyed their way of life. In my opinion, this is a MUST see movie. I gave it a 10/10.

This is the true story of Arturo Sandoval, the fabulous jazz trumpet player, who defected to the United States to enjoy artistic freedom. It is a wonderful plot. I didn't sense any gross "artistic freedom" in the story. It seemed to ring true all the way through.The plot is not complex and the direction is straightforward. It doesn't take a lot to keep up with the story, but it is a good way to pass the time. The soundtrack, played by Arturo Sandoval, is what makes this movie special.