D'où l'on vient

Just way too long and should have been 30-40 minutes less. First couple of numbers and you think, this is pretty cool, but it soon gets very repetitive and the 'follow your dreams' message which is forced down your throat the whole time gets very tiresome. Good casting, dancing and a couple of numbers but too much of it overall. Can imagine this being good on the stage, perhaps it should have stayed there.

It 's a big, sprawling movie about a Hispanic block in upper Manhattan's Washington Heights, and how each of them has his or her own dream, most of which are some variation of getting out of Washington Heights. It's a steady, dependable sort of multi-generational plot that was paying Fanny Hurst's bills more than a century ago, the stories and dreams seem well told, even if there are too may of them to keep in your head when we return to a particular character. It's also a musical, the one that Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote and directed and starred in to make his bones. John Chu has taken over the direction and Anthony Ramos the role.

There's some handsome, if not original choreography in this movie, bits lifted from WEST SIDE STORY and ROYAL WEDDING. It follows the tendency to make a big production number out of every dance. Until the next to last one, I experienced the despair I so often feel looking at modern movie musicals, convinced they've forgotten how to move the camera, but instead cut, cut, cut. The last dance, however, showed they hadn't. They just would rather do a zip cut than plan out the complex movements.

Sigh. Still, the songs were surprisingly strong, particularly "Paciencia Y Fe", sung by Olga Merediz. It's a skilled and enthusiastic cast, and it makes me hope that Hollywood will go back to making musicals, that are more than Broadway musicals filmed in front of a proscenium arch.

It's a good one time watch movie, mainly for its Music and dance through some great cinematography done with greats sets. The story is vague so you'll be disappointed, if you're mainly focused on the plot. Or else, you'll pretty much be entertained with some good music and dance shown.

I really enjoyed "In the Heights" overall as a movie and musical. The best aspects were the overall story it told and some of musical dance numbers, e.g. The pool scene. The music itself was not at the same level as Hamilton, but it was still good. The characters were mostly very good with the best performed by Melissa Barrera and Olga Merediz. Anthony Ramos also does a very good job, but some aspects of the writing for his character were off. Also, some aspects of the side stories were too contrived and didn't add anything to the overall movie. But in the end these things mattered less and the movie pulls all of the important pieces together to still tell a great story. Congrats to all those who made this great film!

I think Lin-Manuel Miranda is incredibly talented, and thought "Hamilton" was incredible (although I've only seen it on Disney+, and sadly never on stage.) Needless to say, I was looking forward to this musical slice-of-life set in the vibrant neighborhood of Washington Heights in uptown Manhattan. The film centers around a bodega owner named Usnavi, whose parents immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic. Joyous and filled with energy, the movie's music is often incredibly well done. Lin-Manuel Miranda's lyrics are fast, kinetic, and clever, combined with plenty of well-choreographed singing and dancing. The film also does an outstanding job showing the diversity, pluralism and cultural heritage of Washington Heights, and the various communities and cultures found there.

With its catchy music and thoughtfully inclusive cultural representation, the film is certainly a crowd pleaser. I'm happy to say that the audience I saw it with applauded after many of the musical numbers, and also gave a hearty applause at the end. It's certainly great to see an audience in a theater respond to a film like that again. That said, the film does fall short of greatness for a few reasons. It could have used more of a plot in between its musical numbers, which is part of the reason why it's not quite as impactful as something like "Hamilton." Usnavi is a generally engaging protagonist, but some of the other characters could have been more developed. Finally, the film does run a bit too long. Being a bit thin on plot but comparatively lacking in impressive musical set pieces compared to the rest of the film, the second act certainly feels like it drags a bit in comparison to the first and third acts. Yet despite these criticisms, there's something truly radiating about the film's vibrancy and joyful enthusiasm--which is, frankly, what we all need right now. Recommended. 7.5/10.