REVIEW: Jon M. Chu Lights Up Washington Heights in “In The Heights”
Musical theater comes to life on the big screen in director Jon M. Chu’s In the Heights. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award winning musical In the Heights takes viewers to Washington Heights, New York, where Usnavi (Anthony Ramos), Benny (Corey Hawkins), Vanessa (Melissa Barrera), and Nina (Leslie Grace), try to make their sueñitos (little dreams) come true in Washington Heights.
Chu does a fantastic job bringing this musical to the screen. His ability to balance the Broadway production’s abundance of sound and movement with the magic of Hollywood, without making it feel campy, boisterous, or fake is testament to his understanding of Miranda’s creation. Chu perfectly executes the mantra stage performers learn at an early age: perform to the back of the room. Capturing this can be challenging as it requires every scene to be bright and colorful, the choreography needs to drive the story, and each performance needs to be spot on so that the audience, no matter where they’re sitting, will feel every emotion. This is often forgotten when musicals move from the stage to the screen resulting in lackluster scenes and a loss of connection, but Chu ensures every scene, feeling, and moment is recognized and accomplished.
The musical numbers are beautifully choreographed and will make you want to jump out of your seat and dance along. “96,000” is especially enjoyable to watch and “Carnaval Del Barrio” truly showcases the magic of musicals. For those who have not seen the musical version, but have seen Miranda’s other masterpiece, Hamilton, will have no problem understanding where Miranda’s musical inspiration for Hamilton came from when they hear In the Heights. Miranda’s way with words and his love of syncopation will keep you glued to every musical number, even if some of the voices in this cast aren’t as strong as one would like.
Ramos is wonderful as Usnavi, it is easy to see why Miranda and Chu chose him to lead the film. His singing, dancing, and overall performance is mesmerizing. Hawkins is another clear standout in the film. His voice is excellent, his dancing is smooth, and his performance is truly engaging. Barrera’s Vanessa was solid, her musical performance of “It Won’t Be Long Now” had an opportunity to be a bit more powerful. She has a great voice, but as a lover of belting songs, her lack of power when she was hitting those notes was a missed opportunity. Grace rounds out the foursome as Nina and was the weakest in the bunch. Her voice was good, but compared to the other three, especially Hawkins’, she was clearly the most tenuous link.
Original Broadway cast members, Miranda, Christopher Jackson, and Olga Merediz make appearances with Merediz the only one reprising her role from the Broadway production. As Abuela Claudia, Merediz gives a breathtaking performance that is perfectly encapsulated in her delivery of “Paciencia y Fé”. She easily translated her captivating performance from the stage to the screen, making viewers feel as if they were actually in the room with her.
Beautifully shot and wonderfully choreographed, In The Heights is a film you will want to return to the theaters for. If you’re still not comfortable being in a movie theater then head over to HBO Max and get ready to stream this Carnaval Del Barrio from the comfort of your own home.
Grade: A-