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In the middle of a classical music competition, Remi Bonnet, a brilliant young pianist, switches from Chopin to salsa. The highbrow audience has a fit. People start throwing things. The judges faint. And Remi's piano teacher tells him that his career as a pianist is ruined. Remi kisses the bust of Chopin, asks for forgiveness, and heads for Paris. The stage is set in the first three minutes of `Salsa'. Remi is dying to be a salsa musician. We will never know how or why Remi became so hooked on latino music. Nor do we really find out how Nathalie, a dour parisian travel agent who he meets in Paris, is transformed into a superb, sexy salsa dancer capable of winning a dance contest on the first try. But we don't really care, because this is a musical comedy looking for every opportunity to show off music and dance. And that's not bad at all. `Salsa' reminds me of `Round Midnight', Bertrand Tavernier's homage to Dale Turner and the American jazz musicians who came to Paris in the 1950's. There, too, it is the story of a Frenchman who adores 'exotic' music from the other side of the Atlantic. Of course, `Round Midnight' is serious, whereas `Salsa' is a cliche-ridden comedy about one Frenchman's desire to join the fun that Cubans in contemporary Paris are having. Don't take it too seriously; enjoy the music.
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