Born Romantic
Encyclopedia
Born Romantic is a 2000 British film directed by David Kane. The film is centered around a salsa club. Fergus is trying to find his ex-girlfriend, the elderly charmer Frankie the beautiful Eleanor and the robber Eddie is trying to find one of his victims, cemetery worker Jocelyn.
Fergus (David Morrissey
), who arrives in London from his native Liverpool, on a search for Maureen ('Mo') Docherty (Jane Horrocks
), the high-school sweetheart he jilted years ago.
Eddie (Jimi Mistry
), the incompetent mugger who falls for Jocelyn (Catherine McCormack
), the neurotic "absentee grave tender" (she tends the graves of loved ones for people who cannot).
Frankie (Craig Ferguson
), a hopeless romantic trapped in the fifties and still sharing a house with his ex. He pursues the elegant and snobbish Eleanor (Olivia Williams
), art restorer by day and Salsa dancer by night.
All are connected by Jimmy (Adrian Lester
), a cab driver, and a place, 'El Corazon'.
) locations, including the interior of the British Museum
.
The interior scenes of the Salsa club 'El Corazon' were filmed in a real Salsa club called the Loughborough Hotel in Loughborough road, Brixton, South London. Now a converted block of flats!
Also all the Salsa dancers were club members who participated in the film as extras.
The soundtrack
includes a number of Latin dance hits:
Plot
Salsa dancing and 'El Corazon', a London Salsa Club provide the backdrop for the love-inspired efforts of three unlikely romantics:Fergus (David Morrissey
David Morrissey
David Mark Morrissey is an English actor and director. Morrissey grew up in the Kensington and Knotty Ash areas of Liverpool, and learned to act at the city's Everyman Youth Theatre. At the age of 18, he was cast in the television series One Summer , which won him recognition throughout the country...
), who arrives in London from his native Liverpool, on a search for Maureen ('Mo') Docherty (Jane Horrocks
Jane Horrocks
Barbara Jane Horrocks is an English voice, stage, screen and television actress, voice artist, musician, and singer. She is best known for her role as "Bubble" in the TV series Absolutely Fabulous as well as her distinctive voice....
), the high-school sweetheart he jilted years ago.
Eddie (Jimi Mistry
Jimi Mistry
-Early life:Mistry, was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England to an Indian Hindu father and an Irish Roman Catholic mother. He was brought up a Roman Catholic and attended St. James' Catholic High in Cheadle Hulme before his family moved to Cardiff where he attended Radyr Comprehensive School...
), the incompetent mugger who falls for Jocelyn (Catherine McCormack
Catherine McCormack
Catherine McCormack is an English actress, known for her stage acting as well as her screen performances in films such as Braveheart, Spy Game and Dangerous Beauty.- Early life :...
), the neurotic "absentee grave tender" (she tends the graves of loved ones for people who cannot).
Frankie (Craig Ferguson
Craig Ferguson
Craig Ferguson is a Scottish American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, author, and producer. He is the host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, an Emmy Award-nominated, Peabody Award-winning late-night talk show that airs on CBS...
), a hopeless romantic trapped in the fifties and still sharing a house with his ex. He pursues the elegant and snobbish Eleanor (Olivia Williams
Olivia Williams
Olivia Haigh Williams is an English film, stage and television actress who has appeared in British and American films and television series.-Early life:Williams was born in Camden Town, London, England...
), art restorer by day and Salsa dancer by night.
All are connected by Jimmy (Adrian Lester
Adrian Lester
-Personal life:Lester was born in Birmingham, England, the son of Jamaican immigrants Monica, a medical secretary, and Reginald, a manager for a contract cleaning company. He sang as a boy treble in the choir of St. Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham...
), a cab driver, and a place, 'El Corazon'.
Cast
- Craig FergusonCraig FergusonCraig Ferguson is a Scottish American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, author, and producer. He is the host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, an Emmy Award-nominated, Peabody Award-winning late-night talk show that airs on CBS...
..... Frankie - Jane HorrocksJane HorrocksBarbara Jane Horrocks is an English voice, stage, screen and television actress, voice artist, musician, and singer. She is best known for her role as "Bubble" in the TV series Absolutely Fabulous as well as her distinctive voice....
..... Mo - Adrian LesterAdrian Lester-Personal life:Lester was born in Birmingham, England, the son of Jamaican immigrants Monica, a medical secretary, and Reginald, a manager for a contract cleaning company. He sang as a boy treble in the choir of St. Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham...
..... Jimmy - Catherine McCormackCatherine McCormackCatherine McCormack is an English actress, known for her stage acting as well as her screen performances in films such as Braveheart, Spy Game and Dangerous Beauty.- Early life :...
..... Jocelyn - Jimi MistryJimi Mistry-Early life:Mistry, was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England to an Indian Hindu father and an Irish Roman Catholic mother. He was brought up a Roman Catholic and attended St. James' Catholic High in Cheadle Hulme before his family moved to Cardiff where he attended Radyr Comprehensive School...
..... Eddie - David MorrisseyDavid MorrisseyDavid Mark Morrissey is an English actor and director. Morrissey grew up in the Kensington and Knotty Ash areas of Liverpool, and learned to act at the city's Everyman Youth Theatre. At the age of 18, he was cast in the television series One Summer , which won him recognition throughout the country...
..... Fergus - Olivia WilliamsOlivia WilliamsOlivia Haigh Williams is an English film, stage and television actress who has appeared in British and American films and television series.-Early life:Williams was born in Camden Town, London, England...
..... Eleanor - Kenneth CranhamKenneth CranhamKenneth Cranham is a film, television and stage actor. He starred in the title role in the popular 1980s comedy drama Shine on Harvey Moon. He also appeared in Layer Cake, Gangster No. 1, Rome, Oliver! and many other films. He is probably best known to horror genre fans as the deranged Dr...
..... Barney - John Thomson ..... First Cab Driver
- Ian HartIan HartIan Hart is an English stage, television and film actor.-Early life:Hart, the grandson of Irish immigrants, was born in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. He is one of three siblings and was brought up in a Roman Catholic family...
..... Second Cab Driver - Paddy ConsidinePaddy ConsidinePatrick George "Paddy" Considine is an English actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, musician and frequent collaborator with Shane Meadows. Best known to audiences for his portrayals of dark, troubled, morally or mentally ambiguous characters...
..... Ray - Hermione NorrisHermione NorrisHermione Norris is an English actress.Norris attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in the 1980s before taking small roles in theatre and on television. In 1996, she was cast in her breakout role of Karen Marsden in the comedy drama television series Cold Feet...
..... Carolanne - Sally PhillipsSally Phillips-Career:Sally Phillips was the only woman in the 1990 Oxford Revue THRASH which also starred Ed Smith. She did nine consecutive Edinburgh Festivals, appearing in shows such as Ra-Ra-Rasputin, Arthur Smith's version of Hamlet and Cluub Zarathustra with Simon Munnery, Stewart Lee, Richard Thomas,...
..... Suzy - Jessica Hynes ..... Libby
- Ashley Walters ..... Lee
Production notes
The film features various (LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
) locations, including the interior of the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
.
The interior scenes of the Salsa club 'El Corazon' were filmed in a real Salsa club called the Loughborough Hotel in Loughborough road, Brixton, South London. Now a converted block of flats!
Also all the Salsa dancers were club members who participated in the film as extras.
The soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
includes a number of Latin dance hits:
- "Pintame", performed by (Elvis CrespoElvis CrespoElvis Crespo , is a Puerto Rican-American Grammy and Latin Grammy Award-winning Merengue singer.-Early years:Crespo was born in New York City and was named "Elvis" after Elvis Presley...
) - "Acuyuye", performed by (DLGDLGDLG is a salsa band that mixes salsa, reggae, reggaeton, and hip-hop. The group was brought together in New York by producer Sergio George and included Huey Dunbar, Fragancia, and James "Da Barba" de Jesus.-Beginnings:Looking for vocalists, Sergio George discovered within the salsa club scenes both...
) - "Ella Fue" performed by (Fania All-StarsFania All-StarsThe Fania All-Stars was a musical ensemble established in 1968 by the composer, Johnny Pacheco, as a showcase for the musicians on the record label Fania Records, the leading salsa record company of the time.-Beginnings:...
) - "Yo No Como Camaron" performed by (SaocoSaocoSaoco is a beverage made of green coconut water mixed with aguardiente rum and ice pieces.This mix of alcohol and coconuts was used as a tonic by Cuban slaves....
) - "Oye Como Va" performed by (Cheo FelicianoCheo FelicianoJosé Feliciano, better known as Cheo Feliciano , is a composer and singer of salsa and bolero music.-Early years:...
) - "Bururu Barara" performed by (Fruko y sus TesosFruko y sus TesosFruko y sus Tesos is a salsa group from Colombia which enjoys immense popularity throughout the Latin American world. It was formed in 1970 by Julio Ernesto Estrada, artistically known as "Fruko" who modeled it after the New York salsa sound of the Fania All-Stars, one of the leading salsa groups...
) - "Ran Kan Kan" performed by (Tito PuenteTito PuenteTito Puente, , born Ernesto Antonio Puente, was a Latin jazz and Salsa musician. The son of native Puerto Ricans Ernest and Ercilia Puente, of Spanish Harlem in New York City, Puente is often credited as "El Rey de los Timbales" and "The King of Latin Music"...
) - "Ojala" performed by (Kassav)
- "La Engandora" performed by (Ruben Gonzalez)
- "Yamulemau" performed by (Joe ArroyoJoe ArroyoÁlvaro José Arroyo González was a Colombian salsa and tropical music singer, composer and songwriter. Considered one of the greatest performers of Caribbean music in his country....
) - "Como Ves" performed by (OzomatliOzomatliOzomatli is a seven to ten piece band playing primarily Latin, hip hop, and rock music, formed in 1995 in Los Angeles. They are known both for their vocal activist viewpoints and their wide array of musical styles - including salsa, jazz, funk, reggae, rap, and others.In a 2007 NPR interview, band...
) - "La Bomba" performed by (Ricky MartinRicky MartinEnrique "Ricky" Martín Morales , better known as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican and Spanish pop singer and actor who achieved prominence, first as a member of the Latin boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist since 1991.During his career he has sold more than 60 million album copies worldwide...
) - "Indestructible" performed by (Robby Salinas)
- "L.O.V.E." performed by (Craig FergusonCraig FergusonCraig Ferguson is a Scottish American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, author, and producer. He is the host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, an Emmy Award-nominated, Peabody Award-winning late-night talk show that airs on CBS...
) - "Sway" performed by (Dean MartinDean MartinDean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
) - "Baby Won't You Please Come Home" performed by (Jane HorrocksJane HorrocksBarbara Jane Horrocks is an English voice, stage, screen and television actress, voice artist, musician, and singer. She is best known for her role as "Bubble" in the TV series Absolutely Fabulous as well as her distinctive voice....
) and (Dean MartinDean MartinDean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
) - "Fear & Love" performed by (MorcheebaMorcheebaMorcheeba are a British band, mixing influences from trip hop, rock, R&B, and pop.They have produced 7 albums since 1995, two of which reached the UK top ten.-Biography:...
) - "Doin Jobz 4 Tha Mob" performed by (Pigforce)
- "Yes Sir I Can Boogie" performed by (Nina MirandaNina MirandaNina Miranda is both a singer and songwriter who was part of the English group, Smoke City, and more recently, Shrift.Nina Miranda's father is Brazilian, her mother is English and she was born in Brazil, and educated in Brazil, England and France...
) - "My Own High" performed by (Shiver)