IR Film Review: IN THE HEIGHTS [Warner Brothers]
There is rugged beauty that flows through "In The Heights". There is a love for the area it speaks of as Lin Manuel Miranda flows it through. As someone who spent many and evening traveling up to the Heights to head to Jersey over the George Washington Bridge while at school in the East Village, that glowing sunset over the bridge looking from the streets is undeniable. the film captures that at certain points but there is an imbalance at times at the world it shows and yet it is true. Granted it integrates the thought of the Blackout in 2003. But the key is the characters but unlike Riff or Tony or Maria or Bernardo in “West Side Story”, the characters, while dynamic don't have the stakes vaulted the others in many ways. Granted these are different times and these people are telling different stories. But when there is some degree of conflict and the tension is building, "In The Heights" shines. But the reality is that sometimes it doesn't go far enough.
The key (and restriction in a way) is that it has to be framed within the musical itself is based on. The opening itself before the title is old school Hollywood and the long shot with seemingly hundreds of people dancing on the street is the feeling this film has at its best. That scene and the undeniable pool sequence is the best of what it shows because it has the diversity and fuel but the love, darkness and ambition while the frenetic choreographed energy just runs hard. Director Jon M. Chu has numerous cutaway shots where you could tell he was just riffing on the day (there are similar moments in the original "Grease") That is where the film comes close. But it is in some of the more quiet moments where it falls flat.
The leads are adequate and most are recording artists in their own right but their energy does not sustain the film as far as the acting. The two that do are surprisingly not who you would think but also are more periphery or serve a plot point. Melissa Barrera, who shined in Starz's "Vida", has that as Vanessa. She sustains the acting while still making the dancing, singing and the attitude move. She is the heart of the movie. Anthony Ramos has potential as the focal point of the film but his presence is a little soft comparatively. It is Olga Merediz as his caretaker Claudia that provides the other balance. These two actors (Barrera and Merediz) provide some weight to what is being protected in the Heights. Jimmy Smits works in his role but it doesn't seem to be enough as far as his gravitas.
Merediz is the one that does it in addition to Barrera. They have quiet moments even when there is action or drama around them. Barrera in the salon. Merediz on the steps of her home.. Merediz gets a fantastic sequence but oddly enough it doesn't feel part of the same movie. It supposed to have almost a "Feed The Birds" balance like "Mary Poppins" did but it jolts you too much out of the movie it is in. Barrera and Ramos' s characters have a chance to up the ante during a club scene and, even though it is part of the musical, a certain energy is lost when it could have gone completely over the top and just blown it out of the park. Chu has the ability and it was almost, at times, that he was staying in the lines (which is understandable with respect to the material and the fact that Lin Manuel Miranda was right there on set).
Again the pool scene is the crux because that is what it could have been if it was played at that volume for most of the movie. "In The Heights" is a great movie for the theaters. It takes a lot of great swings and knows what it wants to be. Some sequences work.. Some don't. Some of the acting works. A lot doesn't. Magical realism also has its place and at one point it moves that way but doesn't land because the context and necessity are not necessary. But the sun as its sets west of the Heights will always have that beauty whether captured on the movie screen or at the 191st Street station. "In The Heights" celebrates that. B-
By Tim Wassberg
