'In the Heights' Review
PG-13: Some language and suggestive references
Runtime: 2 Hrs and 23 Minutes
Production Companies: 5000 Broadway Productions, Barrio Grrrl! Productions, Likely Story, SGS Pictures
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Director: Jon M. Chu
Writer: Quiara Alegría Hudes
Cast: Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace, Melissa Barrera, Olga Merediz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Gregory Diaz IV, Jimmy Smits
Release Date: June 11, 2021
Theatrical/HBO MAX
Lights up on Washington Heights... The scent of a cafecito caliente hangs in the air just outside of the 181st Street subway stop, where a kaleidoscope of dreams rallies this vibrant and tight-knit community. At the intersection of it all is the likable, magnetic bodega owner Usnavi (Anthony Ramos), who saves every penny from his daily grind as he hopes, imagines, and sings about a better life.
Director Jon M. Chu is not only on a roll but has also had the biggest glow-up I’ve seen from any director! I’ve never seen a filmmaker go from rag movies like Jem and the Holograms and Now You See Me 2 to making some of my favorite films that mean the world to me. Talk about range! After helming the incredible romantic comedy Crazy Rich Asians, which was in my top 10 films of 2018, Chu has crafted an epic adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s masterpiece of a musical that emotionally connected to my home in a way that no movie of its kind has done before. Growing up, I’d see commercials for In The Heights on Broadway and always wanted to check it out, especially because Miranda had an iron grip on my childhood since PBS’s The Electric Company reboot. Now we have a studio feature adaptation that, like its source material, is a beautiful celebration of Hispanic culture and a gorgeous love letter to New York City. Though I’m just a Black enby from Brooklyn, this is a near-perfect movie that made me bawl and feel seen as a New Yorker. You’ve probably seen, through various ads on TV, that I said, “This is one of the best movies of 2021,” and yeah, it actually is.
Chu’s adaptation is a labor of love that captures the authenticity of New York City from the first frame to its very last. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a musical film set and shot on location in New York City. The last on-location musical that I can think of off the top of my head is 2007’s Enchanted. In The Heights is a New York movie that I still cannot believe was made: one set on an underrepresented community in New York, bringing them visibility in a new cinematic medium. Much like the source material, the film is an irresistible celebration of the Latinx dreamers who inhabit the city they call home. The film depicts the culture in a positive light and tackles current themes through a loving and inspiring message. Watching this movie truly gave me major FOMO in the same vein as Steve McQueen’s Lovers Rock because it’s so infectious with exuberant, upbeat energy.
The production design is unbelievably immaculate; it takes various locations — from the most intimate details of Usnavi’s bodega and the salon ladies’ shop to the interior of an MTA bus or subway — and transforms them into unforgettable set-pieces that are visually fascinating. There’s so much variety in all the musical numbers that you might get into arguments about which one is best, for they are all expertly filmed and crafted.
Chu’s direction truly shines in a manner that viscerally shocks me. Since it was shot on location, you feel the massive scale of this New York story that accurately captures the upbeat and vibrant city through its breathtaking set pieces and choreography. Given Chu’s prior experience with dancers in the Step Up franchise (and directing the best movie in the entire franchise, Step Up 3D), it’s not surprising how he showcases skilled dancers in the film to make this musical feel more like an extravagant fiesta. Each and every musical set piece has a distinct flair and style that stands out on its own. If you’re a New Yorker, like a born, bred, and raised New Yorker, you will easily connect with how Chu’s imagination and vision make this more than a stage-to-screen film that most directors can’t even fathom envisioning. There are ample overwhelmingly gorgeous sequences that your home TV simply can’t do justice. This is coming from someone who watched the film via Bluetooth headphones on their first viewing: WATCH THIS IN THE BIGGEST THEATER YOU CAN.
The ensemble cast poured their heart and soul into making Miranda’s characters come to life and everyone lit up the night sky with their performances. Part of the cast is comprised of theater actors and Lin-Manuel Cinematic Universe veterans such as Anthony Ramos, who portrays Usnavi, and given that this is his first major leading role in a musical, he’s incredible. It’s redundant to describe Ramos’s talent because everyone already knows it. I was shocked by other cast members that I didn’t even know had the ability to hold notes and drop bars. Melissa Barrera, best known from the underrated Starz series Vida as the independent fashion designer Vanessa, truly surprised me, for she has such a beautiful singing voice. This also applies to Corey Hawkins from Straight Outta Compton, Stephanie Beatriz from Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Jimmy Smits. However, Olga Merediz as Abuela gives one of the best performances I’ve seen this year. If Anne Hathaway can win an Oscar for one incredible song performance in Les Mis, then Olga Merediz deserves the same during next year’s award season. Her performance during the show-stopping “Paciencia y Fe” sequence is so breathtaking, the theater I saw it with both APPLAUDED AND SOBBED.
Despite my love for this movie, I have to criticize the editing and shot composition in some of the musical set-pieces. Whenever the film features a large ensemble of dancers in the streets of Washington Heights, it hardly uses a wide shot, and when it does it’s for a brief amount of time. You have such a large number of dancers in tune and rhythm, yet the film actively cuts away without letting you see the number of people present. I’ve never seen a musical be so scared of using wide shots and it became more frustrating as time passed.
If you are to see In The Heights, watch it in a theater on the biggest screen you can. I have seen this movie twice now: once very early in the year from the comfort of my home and in a theater with a friend of mine. I enjoyed it the first time around, but the second viewing left me breathless and swimming in a flood of my own tears. The film’s conclusion with Usnavi singing the final number left me in tears because it personally got to me. As someone who’s lived in the city their whole life and wanted to escape to a town outside of NYC, the film was a perfect reminder that this is my true home. New York is my heart and part of who I am. Much like the variety of characters in this film, I am a dreamer with large aspirations and desires but can never leave the city because it’s where my heart lies. In the Heights was the right movie to watch at the right time. No matter how this summer pans out for cinema, In the Heights is THE movie of the summer. It's a fun, energetic, incredibly directed, and colorful music epic that deserves to be seen on the biggest screen. It's a beautiful love letter to Latinx culture and the dreamers who inhabit NYC, the greatest city in the world.
