El cantante

I couldn't wait to see this movie, however, it was a little disappointing because of the jumpy and sloppy editing. Marc Anthony was great as Hector Lavoe, and Jennifer Lopez was equally as good as Puchi. I went to almost all the venues that Hector played in, including the Palladium, which was the place to go. I saw them all, from Tito Rodriguez, Pacheco, Kako and Tito Puente, etc. However, Hector had this easy style of singing and held you until he was finished. One point I would like to make, Marc Anthony at the present time is the king of Salsa. He can fill a stadium like no other. Hector Lavoe unfortunately was too involved in drugs from the onset...this was part of the musician's scene at the time. Drugs were prevalent, and he made it a part of his life. Anyone who was raised in New York, the City and the Bronx understands that the drugs consumed most musicians. Hector could have been the biggest personality ever, but he blew that gig, sorry to say. I liked the movie, but was not crazy about it. As another writer noted, the character could have been developed a bit more then it was. It was worth the price of admission just to hear all the great music.

I knew very little about Hector Lavoe or his music before seeing this film and I must admit that apart from knowing a few of his songs, I still can't say that I know the man or why he was the way he was. The film almost glorified his tragic lifestyle and choices but gave us no real insight into what motivated the man.

I take the film 'Ray' as an example. We go deep into Ray's childhood to understand why he does what he does, positive and negative, and why he thinks and feels the way he does. We never see Hector as a child, I don't know what happened to his mother and never get a sense of the relationship between him and his father.

Honestly, and sadly, this film doesn't make me see Hector Lavoe the man or the even Hector Lavoe, the musical genius. From the first sequence, this film was about a drug addict who also sang who was named Hector Lavoe.

I think he deserved more than that.

With that said, the music is very well done and there were flashes of brilliance but there was too much quick cutting and jumping away from dramatic moments. It's fine if you wanted the music sequences to be fast paced but even dramatic moments were rushed along and stylized to the point of taking me out of the film.

Good film but poorly directed and not a classic which, like I said, Hector deserved better. He deserved the full 'Ray' treatment of this being a shining testament to his genius and not a movie about Puchi's husband.

Quite true to the actual events of Hector Lavoe's life, the acting and direction of El Cantante are top notch. Jennifer Lopez probably gives the finest performance of her career, while Mark Anthony without a doubt deserves an Oscar for his star role. I saw this film on Sept. 12/2006 at the Toronto International Film Festival and Jennifer and Mark's presence overshadowed the film itself. However as a stand alone film, it is excellent and my only criticism would be the editing, the cinematography and some of the subtitles which were quite different from what the actors were actually saying. The cinematography seemed quite Schizophrenic at times, while the editing was occasionally shaky. Leon Ichaso has done an excellent job as usual in the direction of El Cantante and while this may be a somewhat low budget film, it is a high caliber production. The music, locales and wardrobe are outstanding as well. While some may dismiss this as a husband and wife chance to work together, given a chance, El Cantante is an excellent film quite able to fight for its chance at a Golden Globe and an Oscar.

This is a biopic of salsa singer Héctor Lavoe (Marc Anthony) who lived from 1946 to 1993. His wife Puchi (Jennifer Lopez) recalls their lives together in 2002. Héctor arrives in NYC from Ponce, Puerto Rico in the early 60s. He quickly gets some success. He meets Puchi who comes from a family of drug dealers. He slowly falls into the world of drugs as his live falls apart.

Marc Anthony's performance comes alive whenever he's singing. He's only competent as an actor but at times, he's overwhelmed by the bigger personality of JLo. There isn't anything original in this biopic story. What's truly lacking is a good cinematic style. This is shot with a style more fitting to a good TV movie. It has way too many montages and the style lacks intensity. The music is great but this can't be just a concert movie.

Jennifer Lopez can act, Gigli notwithstanding. In El Cantante she narrates the life of 70's Salsa songster Hector Lavoe (Marc Anthony) with some sparks of creative energy. After all, as Puchi, she smoke, drank, and took drugs with him on his way to stardom, inevitable obscurity, and early death. Enabler? Maybe. Witness the Ray Charles, Kurt Cobain arc and you'll know how Hector's life sank so low (no homonym pun intended).

El Cantante is a disappointment because the celebrity couple Lopez and Anthony could have had Oscar flyovers with better script and direction. Many of the scenes are stock musical biopic: low-angle shots of the star strumming and singing, cut to drugs, cut to wife, back to another performance moment, cut to a Fania album cover, all with MTV swift editing and few scenes of depth that are not clichés of the first order.

Clint Eastwood's life of Charlie Bird Parker is a classic of character development; the recent La Vein Rose about chanteuse Edith Piaf depicts the artist sufferer in a mixed bag of time but a straightforward rendition of talent. Cantante shows a druggie who might have been an icon but for his weaknesses. If I have to sit through drug and alcohol addled performers once more, I need better story, regardless of how accurate the film is.

I don't want a documentary—I want an interpretation. Cantante is just a musical like any other, no more.