In the Heights

If there was a genre with cinema that I am not that big a fan of, it would definitely be live action musical adaptations. There are certainly a handful of these that I like such as The Sound of Music but it feels like more of an issue with modern ones. This can be summarized with how much of a double-edged sword these films are: they can provide all the glitz glamour that they can afford but they are confined to the limitations of a bulky 2+ hour runtime with the pros and cons tied to whatever they are adapting for audiences. It's why movies like Rent and Les Miserables just didn't do anything for me. This brings us to a new entry in this area, In the Heights, which was directed by Jon M Chu (Crazy Rich Asians) and is based on Lin Manuel-Miranda's musical of the same name. Admittedly I haven't watched Hamilton at the time of this review (though it's on Disney+ for me to access) but I was hoping the success of it and the Lin's involvement could have helped this out. After watching it in theaters, however, it ended up being such a lackluster letdown that hit a few of my pet peeves.

How are the songs and musical numbers? Let's quickly touch on this first: with what this film was aiming for, it doesn't satisfy the "high energy" numbers that were advertised in the marketing. They all feel mostly middle of the road with their momentum between the R&B style parts and ensemble pieces. Something that's worth mentioning is that there isn't much dialogue as the majority of the conversations that take place are through songs. What may or may not help the music stay in the mind is whether or not the viewer has the emotional investment in the plot arcs. The production value is something to look forward to if you want to turn your brain off and watch what's going on in these numbers. My favorite song highlights here would be "96,000" and "Carnaval del Barrio" primarily for having a consistent flow and being more likable towards whatever had better investment. 

 

What's it about? Taking place in Washington Heights, the story follows a few members of the Dominican community who are pursuing their own respective dreams. This splits in the narrative into multiple plot arcs that provide a variety of flavors of conflict, so if one doesn't work maybe one of the other issues can provide some investment. The community spirit is present throughout as it dips into the pool of cheesy traditional lines. 

That being said, for all of its good intentions and modern social commentary, the screenplay ends up being a double-edged sword of an adaptation. Because there are many lead characters with their own plot lines, the pacing hit hard with the juggling act of these problems. There's even a Dreamers tidbit that arrives very late in the third act and is resolved not that long after. It becomes more style over substance in its approach of quantity over quality feeling the need to hit every checkbox of cliched drama. It also doesn't help that there are 2 romances that are lackluster to watch due to the unfocused nature presented. The direction is very weak too as none of the actors seem capable of rising above their material and the filmmaker doesn't guide them better.  

How are the actors? In regards to story importance, the actors to focus on are Anthony Ramos and Leslie Grace (I could have mentioned Melissa Barrera but her appearances are infrequent with the plot). Anthony gives a serviceable performance as a somewhat central figure with that kind of charisma in scenes where you'd want to hangout with him but it felt like direction was holding back his acting. Leslie is another competent acting highlight as a character who has enough material as a lead despite her script letting her down. Honorable mentions goes to Gregory Diaz IV, Daphne Rubin-Vega, and Lin Manuel Miranda due to the former two being interesting enough standouts as a comedic relief and crowd rouser, respectively, while the latter has a cute little cameo with his grudge against a business competitor.  

 

Overall Consensus: In the Heights entertains with mindless community unifying music and nice production value but is very lackluster in terms of narrative focus, storytelling, bad pacing, weak direction, and uninteresting characters. ⭑⭑1/2 Runtime: 2 hours 23 minutes PG-13

 

Reasons to watch it: You are a fan of the aforementioned actors and/or director Jon M. Chu. You like cheesy musical adaptations with a sense of community and competent songs. You are familiar with the source material and want to see how it's treated. 

 

Reasons to avoid it: You aren't a fan of the aforementioned actors and/or director Jon M. Chu. You dislike cheesy musical adaptations that are lacking emotional investment in the main characters and uninteresting stakes. You are familiar with the source material but don't want to see how it's treated.