Friday, June 18, 2021

In the Heights (2021, PG-13)

It’s finally here! It was a real disappointment not to get this movie last summer (although the early release of the filmed version of Hamilton was awfully nice consolation,) so it’s a joy to have it come out at last. While I wouldn’t say it quite lives up to all the hopes I had for it, it’s an extremely-solid movie musical that brings back my memories of seeing the show on Broadway in 2009.

The nuts and bolts of the story are fairly simple.  Set in Washington Heights, a Latino neighborhood in northern Manhattan, the show follows its residents over the course of a sweltering heat wave.  Everything and everyone is in flux; all along the block, people are considering “packing up and picking up” for different reasons.  For instance, bodega owner Usnavi longs to find his roots back in the Dominican Republic.  Daniela and Carla, the insatiable gossips from the salon, struggle to stay afloat as their rent keeps increasing.  Bright, hardworking Nina has just returned from college, and the site of home makes her wonder where she really ought to be.  It’s a story of love, dreams, and family that bursts with life.

Movie musicals often fall into one of a few traps. 1) It feels embarrassed to be a musical and downplays that side of it to its detriment. 2) It feels like someone just slapped a couple cameras in front of the stage show, but without the electricity of the live performances and the audience, it appears listless onscreen. 3) It’s stuffed with big-name actors whose singing mostly ranges from decent to awkward to what-were-they-thinking? By and large, In the Heights dodges all of those pitfalls. Jon M. Chu, whose work I loved in Crazy Rich Asians and who comes from a Step Up background, directs the musical numbers with flair, excitement, and personality. I love the homages, both large and small, to classic movie musicals, and many of the songs really just leap off the screen.

I especially want to highlight the bouncy precision of the opening number, the (literally-)splashy spectable of “96,000” staged at a community pool, the cool use of lighting for “Blackout,” the beautifully-representative ensemble dancers who create the flashbacks in “Paciencia y Fe,” and the magical romance of “When the Sun Goes Down.” Chu approaches the songs in vibrant, eye-catching ways that use plenty of conventions of musical theatre while still employing a distinctly cinematic language. It’s a really marvelous feat. Also, importantly, he does really well with handling Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical penchant for overlapping melodies for triumphant climaxes. As songs like “96,000” and “Blackout” crescendo with easily six or seven different melodies layered on top of one another, Chu guides our eyes and ears throughout in a way that captures the overpowering wall of interwoven music and never lets it collapse into a confused jumble.

In comparison to the wonderfully-shot song sequences, the dialogue scenes suffer in comparison. In the Heights has a bit of a flimsy book to begin with, and while there’s some updating to the screenplay for the adaptation, not all the changes enhance the story. There are little things here and there that I like, and it’s interesting to see how certain story beats still work despite being reshuffled a bit. But Nina’s story in particular becomes rather muddled due to changes/cuts, and several important points of conflict are excised without putting something of similar weight in their place, which leaves the screenplay feeling a little drab. Again, it’s all the more noticeable because so many of the songs are done so well.

I’m highly in favor of the cast. My heart still belongs to the OBC, but I appreciate the care that went into building a cast that includes Broadway vets, familiar faces, and newcomers. Standouts for me include the following: Anthony Ramos (John Laurens/Phillip Hamilton in Hamilton) holds it down as Usnavi, playing him with a charming/loveably-awkward everyman energy. Corey Hawkins (Dr. Dre from Straight Outta Compton) is a great Benny, super personable and in great voice, a grounded romantic lead. Gregory Diaz IV, who’s new to me, makes for a wonderful Sonny, equal parts funny and heartfelt. And of course, you can’t go wrong with Olga Merediz updating her Tony-nominated performance as Abuela Claudia for the big screen. The cast also includes Daphne Rubin-Vega (the original Mimi Marquez!), Stephanie Beatriz, Dascha Polanco from Orange is the New Black, Jimmy Smits, and cameos from Lin-Manuel Miranda and Christopher Jackson. I’m not familiar with either Leslie Grace or Melissa Barrera, but both of them are engaging as Nina and Vanessa.

Warnings

Language, sexual references, drinking, and thematic elements.

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