In the Heights
Bruce Steele: I used to live in Washington Heights in upper Manhattan, but I lived 20 blocks and a world away from the largely Dominican neighborhood depicted by In the Heights, the new musical from Lin-Manuel Miranda — which he wrote a few years before Hamilton. Here, there's just one robotic cameo for a clueless middle-class white guy (like me), who's standing in the way of a young Latinx woman's dream. But I didn't feel shut out of the story. Just as the stage musical Rent did with Lower East Side artists, this film immerses audiences in a cohesive community that viewers can appreciate whether it's familiar to them or not. How was your visit to The Heights?
Edwin Arnaudin: Busy yet enjoyable. Miranda and director John M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians) create a whirlwind of energy with the lengthy titular opening tune, which introduces protagonist Usnavi (Anthony Ramos, Hamilton) and the various neighbors who frequent his bodega. It and the other songs are catchy in that distinctly Miranda-esque, rap/sung Hamilton way, and the dance choreography — especially in a handful of “full cast” sequences — round out the spectacle. But the characters’ struggles and motivations aren’t quite as fully formed.
Bruce: I did feel like the stakes weren't very high in the first half of the movie. Usnavi has a dream of restoring his father's beach bar in the D.R., while the young woman he's crushing on, Vanessa (Melissa Barrera), wants to move downtown to be a fashion designer. Then there's Stanford student Nina (Leslie Grace), home for the summer, and her former and future boyfriend Benny (Corey Hawkins, BlacKkKlansman); a sweet Abuela (Olga Merediz); a beauty parlor owner (Daphne Rubin-Vega) and her crew; and Usnavi's teenage sidekick, Sonny (Gregory Diaz IV) — to name a few. They're all charming enough, with unremarkable yearnings, so for a while I wondered what the point was. Then there's a blackout — which subtitles have been predicting throughout — and I thought the long setup finally pulled together.
Edwin: The blackout necessitates the community coming together in full force and strengthens the overarching theme of preserving the neighborhood’s character, though these immigrants — who also include Cubans, Puerto Ricans, and Mexicans — feel tight-knit from the start. Basic as their individual aspirations are, screenwriter Quiara Alegría Hudes (author of the stage play’s book) overcomplicates them with help from an ill-defined timeline and questionable rationale, though the narrative’s energetic pace under a spectacle-minded Chu’s direction glosses over many of these flaws.
Bruce: The timeline fuzziness didn't bother me, but I did like Chu's direction. He made a big splash with Crazy Rich Asians, but I'm actually a fan of his two Step Up dance movie sequels, Step Up 2: The Streets and Step Up 3D. In the decade since, I think he's gotten better with dramatic scenes and less consistent with the songs. Early on in Heights, the musical numbers were so choppy and overedited, it was hard to appreciate the terrific dancing. As with everything in the film, the production numbers improve in the second half, which we can talk about shortly. But to return to your point, what would have made the movie's script work better for you?
Edwin: The dramatic hiccups might have been less noticeable with a stronger core cast. Grace and Hawkins click from their first shared scene and get arguably the film’s showiest duet with the gravity-defying (and acrophobia-inducing) "When the Sun Goes Down.” But Barrera is fairly flat when she’s not expertly singing and dancing, and Ramos, who’s great in supporting performances in such other NYC-set projects as Monsters and Men and the She’s Gotta Have It series, currently lacks the charisma and presence of a convincing lead. Were you taken with this central pair?
Bruce: Ramos has an "everyman" character that worked fine for me, although I don't disagree with you on Barrera. The older supporting players do a lot to shore up with thinly drawn young people, especially Merediz as Abuela Claudia, who gets a Chicago-like production number I adored, and the cheeky Rubin-Vega, who cemented the musical's great debt to Rent, in which she was the original Mimi. Then there's a kind of scary but effective Marc Anthony cameo, as Sonny's wasted dad, and a fine turn by Jimmy Smits as Nina's overbearing father. The big multi-generational song, "Carnaval del Barrio" — which owes a lot to West Side Story — is a brilliant evocation of community cohesion and pride, as well as being raucous, energetic fun.
Edwin: It’s a showstopper and the number that most made me want to applaud in the theater (which I’m surprised didn’t happen from any of our opening night crowd. Southern manners, I suppose...). But I also had a blast with the first-half, swimming-pool-set “96,000,” which teases yet never quite tilts to Busby Berkeley-level theatrics, and “The Club,” one of the film’s few interior-set dance numbers and another set piece that draws from West Side Story (particularly “Mambo”). Additionally, Miranda’s scattered appearances as piragua (aka shaved ice) salesman Piragüero made me smile with his change-of-pace comic relief. It all would have been fine to watch at home last summer, but I’m glad that Chu was adamant about releasing the film in theaters instead of compromising with VOD — though I do think a lot of folks are overrating In the Heights out of the sheer pleasure of being back at the movies with their fellow humans.
Bruce: We saw it in RPX, the biggest and loudest movie show available in Asheville, and it was a joy to have that full theatrical experience again. I think what made the movie less compelling early on was that its storylines weren't filling that big space, even if some of the dance numbers were. But when the lights go out in the blackout, the drama ramps up, the choppiness of the production numbers disappears, and everything comes together for a sweet conclusion. The addition, post-Broadway, of a Dreamers subplot was a nice touch. My buzz lasted through the credits — and we need to remind other viewers to stick it out to the very end, too, for a cute tag scene. All in all, I give it a solid B-plus.
Edwin: There’s a lot to like, including an ultimately witty framing device, but in addition to the mediocre screenplay, few (if any) of the songs are memorable. Engaging as the tunes are in the moment, unlike Hamilton or 20th century movie musical high marks Hedwig and the Angry Inch and La La Land, viewers are unlikely to leave the theater with one of In the Heights’ melodies or lyrics playing in their heads — save maybe the catchy title track’s chorus. Miranda has crafted far sharper material in the 14 years since his breakthrough debuted on Broadway, and though its cinematic adaptation should nevertheless serve as a launching pad for its talented Latinx stars, I feel a little generous giving it a B.
Grade: B-plus. Rated PG-13. Now playing at AMC River Hills 10, Biltmore Grande, Carolina Cinemark, and Grail Moviehouse. Also available to stream via HBO Max through July 10
(Photos: Warner Bros.)
