The very first Broadway production that Lin-Manuel Miranda ever produced, In The Heights has finally gone from a stage production on Broadway, to finally gracing us on the big screen. Directed by Jon M. Chu and music by Lin-Manuel Miranda himself, In The Heights tells the stories of the local neighborhood of their life and hardships of living in Washington Heights, and tackles the concept of what home really is. Before I go on to critiquing this movie, I must state that I’ve never watched the musical prior to watching this film. So I will not be able to properly draw comparisons to the original source material or make an argument of whether or not the movie is better or worse than the musical itself. But, this does pose the question, is this movie great? Let’s dive in!
When you’re critiquing musicals, the first thing you obviously have to point out is music and choreography numbers, and what it does to properly stand out among other musical film adaptations. I’m happy to report that it does a really good job in that department. The music in this film has an amazing Latin flare feel to each number. Songs like the opening number “In The Heights” and “96,000” were songs that were really stuck in my head even after the movie was over. The choreography was well done too. You felt like everyone was going all out for this film, and the cinematography made everyone in the film look amazing when they’re performing these numbers.
The characters, all of them are lovable. Especially the main character Usnavi, played by Anthony Ramos. Ramos does a fantastic job in dictating what you should feel, especially when he’s narrating. His facial expressions also were great in terms of setting the tone of what you should feel for each scene. There was a scene where I almost shed a tear because of the emotions that he invoked to help understand the seriousness of this situation. Honestly, it’s a performance that I feel should be nominated for an Oscar.
The story though, although it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, is very well done. I imagine that there were parts that were cherry picked from the musical, and added something different to the musical. But, the decisions they made in terms of story progression, really worked in this movie. So many characters had an interesting story to be told, and it’s interesting to see what they were going through. My personal favorite journey was Sonny’s. Not to go into major spoiler territory, but his story is something most people are on the outside looking in. It gives us a unique perspective of how someone like him survives in a place that he’s called home his whole life.
If there was something that I had to nitpick during this movie though, there were a few numbers that didn’t make sense with the direction they were going with the cinematography. There was a musical number that made me ask why in terms of what the point was in terms of why the scene was shot the way it was, knowing there’s other ways they could’ve done it. There were a few times as well where the green screen stuck out like a sore thumb in a couple of numbers as well. Most of these were minor though, and it didn’t really take away too much.
In The Heights is a must see film if you are into musicals. With a compelling story, wonderful characters, and music and choreography that’ll have you dancing and singing along, this 2 and half hour film is definitely worth your attention. Catch this movie whenever you can, because this summer flick will make you feel ¡Muy Caliente!
Final Verdict: 8.5/10
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