Viva is less boy-meets-boy than boy-meets-himself.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 20, 2016

A story of self, gender, identity and family, Viva is an absolute gem worthy of raucous celebration.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 9, 2016

Even as the film's melodrama starts to lay on as thick as a La Lupe ballad, Medina's sensitive and luminous performance as a tarnished Latin angel who learns to spread his wings remains center stage, and rightly so. This young actor is good.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 16, 2016

Had the filmmakers slathered as much mascara on their characters' eyelids as they did stoking the plot with sentiment, the cast would have spent the last third of the picture bumping into things.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Jun 10, 2016

A movie that never quite comes to life, despite its title.

| Original Score: 2/5 | May 12, 2016

Slick and raunchy when it might have been grindingly realistic, "Viva" is finally all heart.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 12, 2016

The story is slightly melodramatic, but director Paddy Breathnach finds ways to make it surprisingly moving at times, in the same way that he makes the Havana slums look paradoxically beautiful.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 5, 2016

The lively setting helps, but the main attration here is the familiar story, which has been around forever and yet never gets old.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 5, 2016

"Viva" appealingly makes up for a coy approach with gutsy, grabby follow-through on the high notes.

| Apr 29, 2016

While its routinely sentimental story line could read as a European import, the performances and the depicted milieus feel distinct and right.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 29, 2016

No amount of vibrant scenery can distract from the tired melodrama that engulfs the rest of the film.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Apr 29, 2016

Viva offers few surprises, but it draws us into the sights and sensations of a fascinating city and the excitement of new talent.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 28, 2016

Nothing happens you won't see coming, but it's all so deftly done you're more than happy to wait for the inevitable to arrive.

| Apr 28, 2016

The beauty of "Viva" comes from within. Mr. Breathnach doesn't bother with picturesque vistas of old Havana, or with lurid shots of the club.

| Apr 28, 2016

It infuses a too-familiar story with so much heart that you surrender to its charm and forgive it for being unabashedly formulaic.

| Apr 28, 2016

Perugorra is such a terrific, soulful actor that he makes Viva's predictable dramatic trajectory ... seem a bit less moldy.

| Original Score: B- | Apr 28, 2016

Havana's crumbling trapped-in-time beauty also plays a starring role, but it's Medina who provides the movie's raw, tender heart.

| Original Score: A- | Apr 28, 2016

Viva doesn't perform to its fullest. Despite its gorgeous views and a pair of strong turns from veteran Cuban actors Perugorra and Garca, the film doesn't connect to the heart of its central character.

| Apr 27, 2016

The drag in the film rejects the U.S.-centric obsession with "realness" and the acrobatics that come with it.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 25, 2016

Director Paddy Breathnach reveals a sensitive touch with the material.

| Apr 7, 2016