ON THE TOWN
Lou Gossett Jr. in
THE CUBAN BY MISHA BERSON
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hen we first meet the character of Luis Garcia in the 2020 film The Cuban, we see a dour, silent man isolated from others, locked in a seemingly impenetrable state of dementia. The new aide attending to him in a Canadian nursing home is warned that Mr. Garcia does not engage with other people. In fact, he’s openly hostile to them. But young Mina, the idealistic pre-med student charged with feeding and shaving him won’t give up so easily on making real contact. And when she discovers that Mr. Garcia was a professional musician in his native Cuba, she soon finds ways to connect with his vibrant culture and unleash his vivid personality—even though Mina gets little support from her disapproving boss. Though The Cuban occasionally slips into a rather formulaic us vs. them mode, the warmhearted movie is greatly enriched by the actor so powerfully embodying Mr. Garcia’s transformation—Louis Gossett Jr., the Oscar
3rd Act magazine | winter 2020/2021
award-winning Hollywood veteran. A hale and hearty 84, Gossett is practicing his craft with his customary skill and finesse after more than 60 years in a profession he still approaches with zest. “I started out acting at 16,” said the affable Gossett, in a recent phone conversation from his home in Atlanta. “For me, this is not work. I’ve never worked a day in my life! It’s a joy for an artist to understand what a character is about, to visit that person.”
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