Cuba is set in the at country during the 1950s when the Batista dictatorship was on its last legs and Castro's forces were on the verge of triumph. Robert Dapes, a British soldier of fortune, is hired by a Batista general to help stave off the rebels. In the process he comes across Alexandra, an old lover who is now the wife of a millionaire's son. She runs the cigar factory while he cavorts with other women. Dapes tries to re-establish their relationship.

Director Richard Lester has a knack for making movies with ragtag plots and idiosyncratic characters (Robin and Marian, The Three Musketeers). But he is unable to pull this one off. He is not helped by Charles Wood's weak script, a lackluster showing by Sean Connery as Dapes, or the inability of Brooke Adams to make the complexity of Alexandra credible. Nonetheless, there are some fine minor performances by Hector Elizondo as a Cuban army officer who realizes why Castro will eventually win, Alejandro Rey as a money-grubbing police chief, and Jack Weston and Denholm Elliott as two foreigners who try to capitalize on the country's disintegration. David Watkin's crisp cinematography (the movie was shot in Spain) and Patrick Williams' innovative music are also to be commended.