Score: A-
Directed by Jon M. Chu
Starring Anthony Ramos, Melissa Barrera, Leslie Grace, Corey Hawkins
Running time: 143 minutes
PG-13
Long Story Short: In the Heights is the big screen adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's (Hamilton) Broadway musical. Similar to its mega-popular musical brother, Heights portrays a slice of the diversity of America, this time in a present-day New York neighborhood. An upbeat, energetic film, it's perfect for the summer and emphasizes the power and necessity of community, just as we're all craving it more than ever. Highly recommended.
In the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York, a community struggles against gentrification but uses its strong personal ties to make it day by day. Usnavi (Ramos) owns a corner bodega, where he looks after cousin Sonny (Diaz) and pines for the lovely Vanessa (Barrera), a frequent customer who works at a local salon. News spreads quickly at the salon, where they learn talented Nina (Grace) has finished her first year at Stanford but comes home with doubts. She still feels a strong connection to the Heights, including her businessman father, Kevin (Smits) and his employee (and her longtime friend), Benny (Hawkins). All are forced to adjust to not just a changing world, but also their often-conflicting dreams and community ties. But all of it - the ups and downs - is celebrated in music and dance.
In the Heights embraces everyday life, proclaiming that our ordinary joys and sorrows should be lifted up; here, in the form of jubilant musical dance routines. While the concerns and stories of individual characters are of varying interest, the main element to me is the exploration of the Heights as a community. Those individual concerns really all swirl together, anyway, as we get to see life at the pool, in the bodega and salon, in the club. It all feels authentic and homey, yet also distinct and interesting because of the detail and the care with which it is handled. Of course, the fact that these places are also often the scene of raucous musical numbers doesn't hurt, either.
While I'm not a huge fan of the genre, I was impressed and very entertained by the scale, energy, and choreography of the film's many musical sequences. Some songs may remind you of Hamilton, while others are more standard musical material. Along with the skill of the performers and the fun of the songs themselves (few favorites for me, but decent tunes), I particularly liked how they incorporate those community settings. And many of the performers look like regular people you'd find in the community, too, with a range of ages, body types, clothing, and so on. The creativity and - again - authenticity are what impressed me the most about this typically bombastic element of the musical.
The main characters and their stories are a bit more on the mediocre end, to me, but still good. Usnavi reminded me of some not great kids from my own school days, so it was difficult for me (and my bias) to buy him as the hero. Each individual conflict leans a bit cliche, and much of the introductory exposition is buried in the opening musical number (I enjoyed the song, but got lost on the details). But all of the four young leads are talented, both as dramatic actors and dancers, and they're never boring. It's really the supporting characters - the matriarch, the struggling businessman - that I found the most compelling, which I suppose fits with my overall interest in the community elements. This is definitely an ensemble effort - each part, big or small, makes the others better.
By the end of the film - which goes on a bit long, I have to say - it feels more like the end of a season in the neighborhood than the resolution of the various plot lines which is as it should be, I think. As real as this community has felt, the film still makes room for some dreamy summer fantasy, too, through some fun visuals - from characters tracing smoke images in the air to literally dancing off the walls. It's a good combination: creating a warm sense of connection to the characters and community, but also capturing some of the magic of summer in a movie theater.
***
In the Heights is a high quality musical, and perhaps the perfect movie to come to theaters right now. We have all been missing our communities during the long pandemic, and even just to see a distant, fictional one is a joy. So while it's not perfect and it's not my favorite kind of summer blockbuster, this was about the best time for me to see it and I suspect that the same is/will be true for many others. With Hollywood having been thrown into turmoil for the last fifteen months, it will be interesting to see exactly how the rest of the year shapes up - a combination of delayed 2020 releases and, hopefully, some things slipping under the radar that we never expected. For now, In the Heights is a great way to get back into the movie theater!
* By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62568194
