We all know or at least heard of Lin-Manuel Miranda's "Hamilton", a Broadway musical that has shot up to critical and commercial success and is quickly being regarded as one of the best musical productions in the industry. Despite the popularity of "Hamilton", you can be forgiven for thinking it was Miranda's first Broadway musical. His first, "In The Heights", paved the way for his signature style and musical flavour and it would be fitting that it would be the first of his works to get a film. In Washington Heights, a largely-Hispanic neighbourhood in New York City, a young bodega owner named Usnavi dreams of moving to the Dominican to inherit his late father's business as well as getting with Vanessa, a woman who wants to be a fashion designer. His friend, Benny, is also rekindling a relationship with Nina, a university student who has returned back to the neighbourhood after not enjoying the experience on campus. I'm not going to try to explain the story further as it takes a slice-of-life approach where it's all about the characters and themes rather than grand storytelling. The themes in particular resonate with me for my mixed background and it gets its message about the importance of heritage, belonging and identity across. The runtime though can be problematic at nearly two-and-a-half hours, which can really drag in areas. The tone is upbeat and energetic that tries to have humour that appeals to both younger and older audiences alike with some success. It's not as dramatic as "Hamilton" or even other musicals, but it surely keeps its preferred tone and feel for the majority of the film that it becomes quite infective.
Anthony Ramos as Usnavi is great as the young, naive storekeeper who dreams big and acts as the underdog of the film. Ramos brings charm and a sense of innocence and determination to the character that it's almost on par to that of Miranda's performance. Corey Hawkins as Benny is also great as the fun-loving and supportive boyfriend of Nina, while Gregory Diaz IV is enjoyable as Sonny, the teenaged cousin of Usnavi and the jokester of the group. Jimmy Smits as Kevin, Nina's father, is fantastic as the supportive and humble parent who just wants what's best for their daughter, and Olga Merediz reprises her role from the musical as Abuelia Claudia, the caretaker of Usnavi and maternal pillar of the community. There are some other characters such as the salon ladies and the piraguero man that serve as comic relief, but those are all of the likeable characters of the film. It's the main female leads however that really take the short end of the straw. Vanessa, played by Melissa Barrera, is a fine actress and singer, but she has no notable personality aside of wanting to be a fashion designer and wearing skimpy clothing in every scene. It doesn't help that the romance between her and Usnavi is extremely weak as they make the audience believe they are in love and it feels like it was all driven by attraction alone. Nina, played by Leslie Grace, is far better than Vanessa in terms of having a personality and the romance between her and Benny offering actual chemistry, but her reasoning behind leaving university and her reluctance to have her father pay is so petty that it makes her kind of weak in areas as it's all due to being the only brown person on campus and being searched once, which makes her selfish in dropping out as a result, until she chooses to return to school by the end. So, aside from the female characters carrying their problematic baggage, the characters are all enjoyable thanks to the performers who bring their charisma and singing chops to the role.
Jon M. Chu is known for his work on various Justin Bieber documentaries, "Step Up" sequels, and his breakout hit, "Crazy Rich Asians". While the director has his fair share of duds like "Jem and the Holograms", Chu proves to be a competent director and one whose most at home with musical/rom-com productions. The first thing to note is the amount of colour and personality that can be found in Washington Heights. While the real-life neighbourhood and the rest of New York as a whole isn't known to be a picturesque city, Chu manages to make the granite buildings and streets look vibrant and full of life to romanticize the level of community and heritage that belong in the area. It also acts as a prime summer movie with the sunny days and high temperatures playing into the overarching story. The cinematography by Alice Brooks is well done in her ability to offer a ton of variety in the tracking, scaling, and one-take shots throughout the film, which is more notable in the musical numbers. Speaking of which, the songs here are as great as you can get with Miranda's talents. Songs such as "In the Heights", "Benny's Dispatch", "No Me Diga", "96,000", "Blackout", and "Carnaval del Barrio" are absolute bangers and the rest of the songs are top-notch in their own regard. A lot of the songs are inspired by Latino/R&B music and it makes them even more memorable because of the Latino homages and sounds.The musical numbers themselves all have kinetic energy and pacing accompanied by excellent choreography and set-pieces. Some sequences have more ambition in its camerawork and choreography such as "96,000" and "When the Sun Goes Down", but it doesn't undermine the rest of the numbers because the music and performers are just so good. Chu might not become one of the most in-demand directors in the industry, but he can at least make a great-looking film and musical.
"In the Heights" is nowhere near my favourite musical, but it almost could have been if a few issues were absent. From a long runtime, to the characters of Vanessa and Nina having their issues as characters as well as the romances not having much chemistry, the negatives do harm the overall experience a bit. With that said, it's great that the issues are as minimal as they are. From the slice-of-life approach and great themes, lighthearted and bouncy tone, Usnavi being a charismatic and likeable lead, the side cast being just as enjoyable or dramatically resonant, the camerawork by Brooks being solid and even visually enticing, a large portion of the songs being memorable without needing to watch the film to accompany them, the musical numbers and sequences offering some spectacular choreography and even some unique camerawork and surreal imagery, and Chu's directing being able to make one of the most unappealing cities in the world explode in both colour and personality while capturing that summer feeling. Even if it may never reach the levels of the best musicals in both film and theatre, "In the Heights" fits comfortably as just a great experience and production no matter what your background or opinion of Miranda is.
Verdict: 8/10. Enjoyable musical that could have easily been one of the best if the issues were non-existent. Check it out if you haven't seen it in theatres or on HBOMax.
No comments:
Post a Comment