Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2 hours, 23 minutes
Director: Jon M. Chu
Quick Impressions:
This review might be tricky to write because in the middle of the movie, I suddenly zoned out and started praying. Seriously, I found one particular sequence so moving and effective (not to mention affecting) that it had me mentally lighting prayer candles and reflecting on the profundity of the universe (not to mention crying). Even my husband was copiously weeping, so it wasn’t just me. It’s a very well done scene.
Unfortunately, this did mean that for the rest of the movie, I was not terribly focused. By that time, I already loved In the Heights, though, and I was focused enough to notice that one very odd thing I had noticed in the beginning suddenly made sense and led me to anticipate the ending. But if a lot went wrong in the last act of this movie, you’re going to have to ask somebody else about it because my mind was up on some transcendent plane someplace pondering the meaning of life.
I am planning to watch the movie again Saturday so that my daughter can see it. I’m sure she’ll love In the Heights. (“I know she’ll want to see it,” I said to my husband, “because the trailer kept telling us it was coming forever.” My husband didn’t know what I meant. Then as soon as I mentioned it to my daughter, she was like, “Oh, you mean that trailer we kept being excited about, and then it kept never coming out forever?” I know she’ll love this! Her older brother (whose potential career choices include SWAT team member, FBI profiler, and band director) should love it, too. (Even her younger brother will like it if he watches it, which I doubt he will.)
The trailer got me all excited because 1) I love musicals 2) This one looked like Hamilton meets Sesame Street 3) Jon M. Chu directed it, and I loved Crazy Rich Asians. That was the best romantic comedy I’d seen in years (which is weird because the books are also good but more satire than romantic comedy). I think the ending of that movie is so satisfying. The professor of game theory triumphs by offering her opponent the winning move, and suddenly everybody’s a winner!
Everyone gets to be a winner in this film, too. I love it because there is no villain, simply adverse circumstances and misunderstandings which are always temporary. Even inevitable foes like Death and taxes somehow greet us as friends In the Heights.
The Good:
When I was texting about this film with some new friends, one noted, “I love Lin-Manuel Miranda’s earnest theatre kid energy.” That was so perfectly put, and I love it, too. It made me wish I had ventured out to the theater. We could have seen it together. But we’re still playing it kind of safe and watched on HBO Max. (You can, too, but it will only be there for a month!)
I’ve always loved musicals (especially the vibe of “hey let’s all put on a big show and that will somehow miraculously save everything,” and then for some reason that somehow miraculously saves everything). I’ve never been to New York. My entire family went without me over Spring Break when I was in college because my parents were chaperones on my sister’s high school show choir trip and siblings couldn’t come, a slight I intend to stay bitter about for the rest of my life. (Just kidding. I got to go to London with a friend that summer which was also good.) Until I got married, I collected Original Cast Recordings (not in a pristine collectible way; those were just the CDs I liked listening to), but I hardly ever got to watch shows. (My husband likes showtunes, too, but the way we consume music has changed thanks to changing technology.)
I’m the least musically gifted person in my family, and I dance even worse than I sing (though when I was in Godspell my mother did compliment me on how well I climbed back onto a bench after accidentally falling off of it. “I thought you were supposed to fall off!” she lied. That these were her first words of praise after the show reveals my level of talent for musical theater.)
Anyway, I love musicals, and I love getting to watch them instead of just listening, so I’m pretty forgiving of movie musicals. In this case, I didn’t feel like there was much to forgive.
One strange thing did happen to me as I was watching. The first time we were introduced to a character, I thought, “Don’t I recognize this actress?” But then I realized I didn’t. I recognized the musical theme she was singing! That’s not usually how I think because I’m musically quite ignorant. It’s probably a sign that my brain is fried, and I need a nap. (That’s certainly true!) But I do like the way In the Heights uses musical themes to convey story themes.
It’s fun to get to know all of the characters in this film. The performances are good. The music helps. And the vivid atmosphere just kept pulling me in at every turn. (I can’t tell you how much I wanted to go to that dinner party just before the blackout!)
My husband kept being surprised by how well everyone sang. (Finally he was like, “I guess they were cast in a musical for a reason.”) He particularly liked Abuela Claudia (Olga Merediz). She quickly became his favorite character. Every time she would sing, he’d chime in, “Sing it, Abuela!” He also got a kick out of seeing Stephanie Beatriz (who he, my older son, and I love on Brooklyn Nine-Nine playing such a different character than she does on that show).
Aside from Abuela Claudia, our favorite character was Melissa Barrera’s Vanessa (partially because one moment with her in the pool cracked us up so much we could barely breathe). We also really related to both sides of the Nina (Leslie Grace)/Kevin (Jimmy Smits) storyline. (My mom dropped out of college because she was afraid, so we had many conversations freshman year in which she wasn’t really listening to what I was telling her.)
I also loved Usnavi himself (and loved the explanation of his name origin.) (I have never seen the show and was wondering about that. He sings something about how we may not have heard his name, and I wanted to yell back, “Yes, I’ve been hearing it for over a year now! When are you going to tell us your story already?” But it’s not his fault there was a pandemic.) I’ve liked Anthony Ramos ever since his really sympathetic turn in A Star is Born, and he’s quite captivating as Usnavi. (And I was so relieved that he could dance!)
Also, I was thrilled with Gregory Diaz IV as Sonny, particularly his face. When you look at him, you can see he’s a dangerous, insidious, fiendish threat to society. Oh no wait. I mean he’s a young boy who’s working hard and wants to go to college to make a better life for himself and contribute in a positive way to our society. That’s right.
Best Scene:
Well, there’s one scene that is so good, I don’t even want to call it out because I think everyone should experience it for themselves without warning. My second favorite scene is the party (up to the point when Jimmy Smits makes his big announcement). That scene made me wish I knew those characters and could spend the evening eating their delicious food and dancing around the room with them in carefree celebration.
Best Scene Visually:
There’s a moment very late in the film where I wasn’t paying as much attention as I should have been (because, remember, I was off frolicking through life’s beauty in my mind, praying the rosary). A character moved in a certain way and for a split second, I felt a thrill of horror. Then I realized, “Ohhh. They’re doing a surreal dance sequence thing.” So that was cool (especially because no one was going to fall to a gruesome death).
But probably my favorite action sequence happens when they set off the fireworks. I thought, “Where were all of these fun people with their fireworks display when our power was cut for 59 hours during the Freeze that Devoured the Heart of Texas?” Get it together, Texas! Next time we lose power for days on end, I expect fireworks!
Best Action Sequence:
One of my very favorite musical numbers in the whole movie happens at the pool when everyone is daydreaming about the lottery ticket, wondering who bought it, and imagining what they would do with the money. (They should have asked me about it. I knew who had it!)
The song was really speaking to me, too. I thought, “Hmm. What would I do if I won almost ninety-six thousand dollars? So fun to think about! So many possibilities! How great would that be!” (You can see it’s a great thing. Everybody at the pool suddenly turns into Esther Williams just thinking about it.)
But what I love the best about the scene is Vanessa’s response and Usnavi’s reaction (and then her lack of reaction to him). My husband and I were dying laughing.
The Negatives:
I’m the wrong person to ask for a useful critique of a musical. Usually I’m up dancing around the room getting swept away in the moment. In this case, for a lot of the runtime, I was praying and thinking of the beauty of life. So…
I can say that if I must pick one, I would rather watch actors who can’t sing so well than singers who can’t act so well. But in this case, everyone seems to be doing just fine both singing and acting.
Probably the weakest point about this musical (in relation to this review) is that the person watching and reviewing it (me) is in no way trained to evaluate musicals.
I guess the worst I can say of In the Heights is that some scenes are so good that they take you out of the story and then you can’t watch the rest with any hope of objectivity.
Overall:
I plan to watch In the Heights again tomorrow, so my daughter can see it. I’d write a bit more about it now, but I just realized that it’s dinner time, and I’m the one who is supposed to have prepared this alleged dinner. (Surprise family! We’re eating tacos late again!) I suppose I’ll conclude that I really enjoyed In the Heights, and I’m also enjoying the more-relaxed-than-average schedule brought about by summer vacation!