'In The Heights' A Review

In The Heights is a musical drama based on the stage production of the same name. Usnavi(Anthony Ramos), our narrator, works in a bodega in the Washington Heights neighborhood of NYC which is under threat of gentrification. He has dreams of re-opening his father's bar in the Dominican Republic, the film also follows Vanessa(Melissa Barrera) who is an aspiring fashion designer and Usnavi's love interest, the third lead is Nina(Ariana Greenblatt) the academic hope of the neighborhood who returns after struggling in her first year at Stanford. Their three narratives are loosely woven together along with a handful of supporting characters set around a couple days in the summer where there is a blackout.

Ramos is magnetic, full of energy and presence, comfortable and efficient with Lin-Manuel Miranda's rap-singing style but he is burdened with a ton of exposition in his narration/direct address which is framed as a story being told to local kids with the narrative itself being a flashback. It's a convoluted device that isn't particularly necessary or successful and serves to frequently undercut the momentum of the main story. Both Barrera and Greenblatt are somewhat miscast, no denying their talent but they are unable to transcend the confines of the 2D ingénue roles in the script. Stephanie Beatriz as Carla and Dascha Polanco as Cuca fair way better, two actors brimming with charisma and even though in the script their characters are less developed are able to convey much more dimension. It's a shame they weren't cast in the leading roles or given more screentime. The other standout is Corey Hawkins as Benny, another performance filled with confidence and exuberance that goes beyond the page to bring the character to life.

Gorgeously colorful costumes, mostly on location filming, and beautifully intricate and large dance numbers deliver on the Musical promise but the focus is spread too thin among the characters, the themes and ideas a bit too fair ranging making the thesis somewhat vague. The source material premiered in 2007 and it shows, it feels dated in some of the plot machinations and it some of the saccharine sentiment. The sparse sequences of magical realism are odd rather than integrated. The diversity in front of and behind the camera is wonderful but the script needed an update particularly with how drastically the socio-political landscape has changed in the past several years. In The Heights is kind of lampooned in The 40-Year-Old Version particularly for this reason and it's a just dig. 

Not altogether successful or satisfying but a fun energetic musical adaptation if somewhat overlong.

Currently in theaters and streaming on HBO Max.

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