In the Heights (2021)

I had gone into this fairly blind and was left more underwhelmed than expected. I fear there isn’t anyone out there currently to bring fully realized musicals to the big screen. Reading the wikipedia entry for the stage version, it seems like the story was sanded down so utterly that there is little conflict left in the film aside from ‘should I stay or should I go’. The answer that question is unearned in the end. I can understand wanting Lin-Manuel Miranda to be part of the movie, but his character could easily have been sacrificed in order to develop some of the main ones fuller. The songs make Hamilton seem less impressive as they all seem to have been reworked into that musical. The lip synching, especially for the younger women, is poor and disengaging. Instead of singing about their actions, the actors often seem to be doing things because the song tells them to. Maybe it feels more real for people from the area, but here, aside from an overabundance of fanny packs, Washington Heights appears to be little different from any other neighborhood in any other city. All that being said, there was a real joy expressed in the film and real emotion portrayed, particularly from Anthony Ramos and Olga Merediz, that it is hard not to feel immersed in the production.