In the Heights

Lin-Manuel Miranda has managed to carve his way into the realms of musical theatre legends after the success of his 2015 musical stage show, Hamilton. While it wasn’t his first musical project and his later work would help broaden his image to the mainstream, Hamilton became the current generation’s musical phenomenon in the same way that something like Wicked, The Lion King and The Phantom of the Opera managed to achieve, propelling the songwriter from a talented up incomer to a beloved theatre celebrity who is just on the cusp of being overused (there’s only so many times he can composed for Disney before it becomes stale). With this in mind, it feels like the 2021 musical film, In the Heights, was trying to take advantage of his growing star power and catch lightning in a bottle twice, but the results were not the same, with a weak box office and medium critical responses that showed that while he is well known, not everything he touches is going to be gold. Set in the neighborhood of Washington Heights, a borough within the northern part of Manhattan which housed several different immigrant communities, the film follows the lives of several different individuals who are trying to grow beyond this street and bloom into their fullest selves. These include a bodega owner named Usnavi (played by Anthony Ramos), who is saving up money in the hopes of reopening his father’s old business in the Dominican Republic, an aspiring fashion designer named Vanessa (played by Melissa Barrera) who is currently stuck making ends meet at a beauty salon whilst waiting for her chance, Usnavi’s cousin Sonny (played by Gregory Diaz IV), who prides himself as a speaker of his culture yet fears for his future in education due to not being registered, and Nina (played by Leslie Grace), a recent college dropout who fears letting down her community and her father, Kevin Rosario (played by Jimmy Smits). Through all of this stress and gloom, the community formed within this street is powerful enough to keep their hopes high and may convince them to keep fighting for what look like unattainable dreams. As a standalone film, In the Heights does have a lot of infectious charm which comes through its vibrant production, lovable cast, and entertaining and energetic song numbers, but its small-scale story, overly long length and somewhat childish and repetitive tone, will wear on people as it continues.

Originally being conceived in 2008, Universal was planning on adapting the musical for 2011 and had Kenny Ortega set to direct, but it was cancelled due to the studio wanting a high-profile Latino star like Shakira or Jennifer Lopez to lead the film instead of a bunch of no names. It was revitalized by Miranda in 2012, and it was eventually auctioned off to Warner Bros in 2016, where Jon M. Chu was set to direct, and Harvey Weinstein was scrubbed from the film as he was going to co-produce it before the allegations against him were brought to light. The musical was in fact based on a book written by Quiara Alegria Hudes, who worked alongside Miranda (who came up with the lyrics and music for the story) on the film as a screenwriter, which explains why the film acts and reacts in a certain way. While the musical itself was mostly well received, it doesn’t feel like a project that was demanding a movie, with it feeling like the Hamilton hype got this project made rather than its own merits. When you watch the film, it provides a pretty great first impression with an really strong opening number, that glows with radiant lighting and popping colors, contains some truly outstanding vocal talent that keep pace with Miranda’s familiarly fast-pace hip-hop flow incredibly well, and does a great job illustrating the more personal stakes of the narrative and how it’s going to be based on connections and emotions rather than details and plot. This isn’t too bad of an idea, as the characters feel likeable enough, the atmosphere is fairly chill and enjoyably street-level, and the passion within the song sequences and the turmoil of the characters seem strong enough to carry a sense of heart amongst the film’s overall good vibes, but it quickly becomes apparent at the tail end of the first act, that good vibes can only take you so far. The film is very much like being a party, as you’re initially very receptive and happy to get involved, but the longer things drag on and the clearer it becomes that no real substance is coming out of this stretched-out excursion, suddenly that mindlessly jovial attitude starts to become irritating. The movie is far too long at roughly two-and-a-half hours, with nothing in the script being gripping or unique enough to distract away from how minute and generic a lot of these issues and resolutions are. The directing by Chu isn’t bad and given his past work in movies that contain a musical and hip-hop quality, he knows how to command that kind of personality, but it feels like he doesn’t quite get the Broadway component of a lot of these numbers (which is ironic as he would go on to do pretty well with Wicked). While some have great choreography and occasional moments of breaking reality to spice up the mundane, the rapid editing, often bland shot composition, and inability to properly start and stop the songs without it feeling abrupt, shows that there is still room for improvement.

If there is anything to take away from this film, it’s that there are some truly talented performers that the general public is totally in the dark about. While the first attempt wasn’t interested in a movie starring no-name performers, this versions shows the positives of that idea, as it allows audiences the chance to witness some fresh faces and see why they are warranting of getting more work, especially in regard to how they sing. Lin-Manuel Miranda seems pretty good at finding extremely strong vocal performers, and it’s no different here, with both the new and even familiar names doing a magnificent job carrying these musical numbers with incredible range and pitch. It can’t be easy to manage the speed and lyrical ferocity of Miranda’s songwriting, yet almost all of them keeps up at breakneck speed, whilst still retaining the ability to act underneath the melodies and reorganize their vocal ranges depending on the song. Anthony Ramos from Hamilton fame hasn’t been able to get a lot of work out of that success, but he really works as the lead in this, bringing a humble yet still charming portrayal of this character that while not amazingly written, still feels decently connectable. It helps that most of these roles are fairly simple and run on their emotional desires and stresses, which are usually easy to figure out and identify with. Whether it’s Leslie Grace  trying to come to grips with failing at college and suffering under the burden of no longer being the ‘’one who got out’’ which is delivered with such precise beauty through her delicate voice and insanely charming personality,  Corey Hawkins’ simple desire to be with the one he loves, which comes through a magnetically charismatic portrayal and absolutely incredible voice, or Olga Merediz reflecting over her rough yet meaningful life in a brief but very memorable song sequence which is carried by one heck of a great performer, it all comes out whenever they sing a note, and it is truly heavenly. With that said, no one shines as strong when they talk, and some even come across a little generic due to playing fair basic roles. Daphne Rubin-Vega, Stephanie Beatriz and Dascha Polanco as caddie salon ladies are only really meant for comic relief, and aren’t incredibly memorable despite being okay, Melissa Barrera sounds pretty good and has a solid goal, she doesn’t feel as strong as some of the other performers, and Jimmy Smits, Gregory Diaz VI, Marc Anthony and even Lin-Manuel Miranda himself are fine, but don’t really bring anything that special to the table.

With the film’s budget being about $55 million, it’s already pretty telling that the movie wasn’t able to turn a profit with that safe of a budget (only earning back $45.2 million), but at the very least, they made the most of their environment and talent as the film still looks and feels really great to be in. While it never really leaves this city block, the way that the film props up Washington Heights is done pretty well, making it an area that certainly looks a little run-down and is struggling to survive, but also has a lot of personality, homely charm and a great community that enjoys each other’s company. The people are very chatty and a little over-dramatic, yet never feel phony, the street art plastered all around the brick walls, the cooler color palette, and the golden light shining from across the harbor paired against the wear-and-tear on the buildings brings a colorful glow to entire location, and even though most of the areas are pretty mundane like a bodega store, a swimming pool, a cramped apartment, etc, most come to life pretty well whenever there’s a musical number. The choreography handled by Christopher Scott (who worked with Chu on some of his earlier projects like the YouTube series, The LXD, as well as Step Up Revolution and Step Up All In) is mostly pretty good and numbers like the opening song and one set at the pool, have some truly impressive co-ordination and visual appeal, but the remainder of the numbers are relatively basic and are mostly held down by the underwhelming cinematography. Alice Brooks hasn’t worked on a ton of musical, and while there are some nice shots that show off the size of the sets pretty nicely, most shots are fairly generic and aren’t presented in a very interesting manner. It also doesn’t help that the editing by Myron Kerstein is way too quick and doesn’t allow much time to witness any of the shots, so it isn’t the best displayed from a visual standpoint. While most of the songs have strong lyrics, sound and singing, not all of them are great and some even start to feel a little repetitive from both a visual and a sound perspective. Some take the extra step to think a bit more creatively like two of the characters expressing their love while dancing on the side of a building, or someone’s final moments being shown by going through a subway, but for the most part, they don’t think outside the box for how they can present these numbers.

In the Heights is nowhere near the same levels as something like Hamilton, and the response to this film was a clear indicator of that and Lin-Manuel Miranda was not going to be able to just coast (the film did come out during the pandemic, but it still is a valid point). As a whole, the movie is not that bad and houses some great actors, catchy song sequences, and an overall wonderfully vibrant and passionate personality that will get you enthused. However, that attitude starts to feel a little bit sour due to how long you are stuck with it, as the film’s length really dampens a lot of its good will, taking what should be a slice-of-life low-roots picture that talks about community and remembering where you came from, and packaging it with a running time that’s close to something like Les Misérables, it just wasn’t a smart choice. You’ll get a fun time, but it might not last forever, this stop at the corner store is a little bit of fun if sampled at the correct dosage.