“A film version of the Broadway musical in which Usnavi, a sympathetic New York bodega owner, saves every penny every day as he imagines and sings about a better life.”

Director: Jon M. Chu
Writers: Quiara Alegría Hudes, Lin-Manuel Miranda
Staring: Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace, Melissa Barrera, Olga Merediz, Jimmy Smits, Gregory Diaz IV, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Stephanie Beatriz, Dasha Polanco
Release Date: June 11, 2021
IMDB

Based on the Broadway play. In The Heights follows the community of Washington Heights through the point of view of Usnavi (Anthony Ramos). It is a sweltering summer and the heat getting under everyone’s collars with life changing decisions and events taking place.

Usnavi is the owner of a local corner bodega who has dreams of going back to his parents homeland and reopening their property to the public. His best friend Benny (Corey Hawkins) has a crush on Nina (Leslie Grace) who is back in town, and who is good friends with Vanessa (Melissa Barrera). Usnavi has the hots for Vanessa but has to weigh the potential of romance with his desire to leave Washington Heights. 

In The Heights weaves the budding couples through serieses of characters. Nina’s father Kevin (Jimmy Smits) is tackling how to send his daughter to college. Sonny (Gregory Diaz IV) is working for Usnavi and has different paths he can take, and there is a salon full of secondary characters who add the flair when necessary.

Within the span of a season, these characters sing their hearts out, learn about themselves and others, and end up having plenty of kumbaya moments 

Benny & Nina Rosario

I am coming to the realization that I tend not to enjoy many Broadway musicals made into movies. There is something about the urgency of the stories that turns me off. There is no subtlety in the story telling, and all the problems tend to be presented as if they are the largest problems in the universe. 

But this is a moral dilemma for me because I enjoy movies like Les Miserables (2012), both Mamma Mia’s, Chicago (2002), and even tick, tick Boom! (2021). However, stories like West Side Story, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), and Into The Woods (2014) give me a headache. I am not a fan of Hairspray (2007) either. 

This is something I need to work out within myself. There are very few where I am like “meh” after seeing it. It is usually a very, very pleasant surprise or a soaring disappointment. My initial thought is that I need some depressing events to happen. Like reality-bound, tragedy. Maybe it is an unhappy ending, at least to some degree. 

In The Heights has the problem where there is no middle ground with the problem or happiness. It is either euphoria or depression. It is either elation or despondency. The story is so binary with its stakes and the decisions. It is yes or no with every question. And every decision needs to be made right now, at this moment!

The undeniable take away from In The Heights is that Anthony Ramos is incredibly fucking talented. Sorry to put it so bluntly, but that dude has a knack. He has the ability to seize the spotlight whether he is meant to be the main character of a scene or not. Ramos is also a darling of writer and musical renaissance man Lin-Manuel Miranda. Ramos played Hamilton’s son in the Broadway play of Hamilton before jumping into the lead role once Lin-Manuel left. 

Now Ramos is branching away from the musical and theatrical world. Just a few weeks ago he was on the poster of Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts (2023), which opens the door for Ramos to steer a new blockbuster franchise. In the coming months and years he is going to be appearing in large projects like Dumb Money (2023) and Twisters (2024). Ramos is rising up to new heights, and he is the shiniest light in In The Heights.

The other radiating bit from director Jon M. Chu’s film is the vibrancy of latin culture. It punches you in the face right from the jump and doesn’t let up. The beats, the lyrics and the emotion of the music all combine to scream in empathetic unison. In The Heights is proud of its culture.

Chu does have a flair for the music. He got his break into Hollywood directing Step Up 2: The Streets (2008) and Step Up 3D (2010). He has a pair of Justin Beiber documentaries and concert movies under his belt, and after the success of Crazy Rich Asians (2018), he linked up with Miranda to bring this broadway play to life. 

The dance sequences in In The Heights are when the movie reaches its highest peaks. The scene in the club when Vanessa and Usnavi eventually go on their first date is wonderfully choreographed. I also empathize with the character Usnavi because I once had an ex-girlfriend dance with someone else seductively to make me feel jealous and I did not enjoy it one bit. Now, grant you, I do not have the moves to pull a counter dance off, but Ramos the actor does. It is a cat and mouse game with an unwilling participant.

But…I can’t pass by that scene without what happens after it. The argument between Usnavi and Vanessa…well Vanessa is being irrational. You danced with other guys and sure, Usnavi was being nervous as fuck…but he did not abandon you. You got lost because it was pitch black. Yes, Vanessa, we know that the abandonment feeling triggers an inner self consciousness thinking about you feeling like you need to leave your dreams behind…but Usnavi doesn’t know you that well yet!

Okay, back to Chu.

And what project is Chu working on now that In The Heights is done? A two-part adaptation of Wicked. Thus far he has Cythia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, and Michelle Yeoh among others attached. It is going to be a huge hit, money wise at least.

Anthony Ramos & Melissa Barrera

Was In The Heights a hit? It was very well received by audiences. People who say it had immense enthusiasm. But the problem is that there were not a ton of people who saw it. The movie had an estimated budget of $55 million and its world wide gross was only a tad over $45 million. The world of mouth was incredibly small, but powerful amongst a strong group.

So this is where I pose a question that someone like me probably shouldn’t be asking. As I mentioned, In The Heights is a color bomb of latin culture and flavor, and it is doing its best to appeal to that community. By leaning so hard into that, did the movie hurt its possible exposure? Or perhaps a better question, does it make it harder to break out of its niche? Lin-Manuel Miranda does not need to apologize for making something he is passionate about, but I wonder what he would say if you asked him the best way to mend the idea of sticking to a singular mission and appealing to mass audiences.

It is not an easy task. I don’t envy that there are people who have to think about that. But it is a thought provoking point.

In The Heights is a perfectly enjoyable watch, and if you are partial to musicals then you will have more than a good time watching it. Its run time of nearly two and half hours does drag at times, but Anthony Ramos being delightful and Melissa Barrera being beautiful helps the time pass by. The soundtrack is not going to have you bumping it in the car, but your head will be bopping while watching the story unfold.

STANKO RATING: B-

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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