IN THE HEIGHTS (2021)

Between calling-card hits (CRAZY RICK ASIANS/’18; WICKED/’24), director Jon M. Chu had something of a film musical test-run with this adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first B’way show.  Pleasant, well-fashioned (very Music Video ready), but with a weightless quality to it, like watching cartoon characters who don't cast a shadow.  (Or is it that Chu gives everything the same weight?)  Anthony Ramos, primus inter pares in what is essentially an ensemble piece about a block or two up in Washington Heights NYC, is the bodega owner who dreams of returning to his family roots in the Dominican Republic.  And it’s that flux of people leaving the nab (priced out thru gentrification, for University & upward mobility, simply dying off, or just for the Bronx!) that sets the relationships (and music) in motion.  Mass musical motion that is; substituting for actual choreography.  It’s the camera that does most of the sweating.  But once past the obligatory Welcome to the Neighborhood opening, too many musical numbers repeat the ideas.  Encore or Extended Cut?*  Lin-Manuel Miranda, in a guest spot, does himself a favor with a number lasting about three-minutes.  He nails it; then exits.  Leave ‘em wanting more something of a lost art these days.  And amidst so much raw talent, why are three sizable roles given to seriously over-parted actors?  Was Chu too busy keeping his compositions filled to the brim to notice?  Check out the clear bold graphic statement on our poster (it’s the soundtrack cover) to see what Chu should have been trying to achieve.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: Just a few months later,  Lin-Manuel Miranda made his film directing debut to striking effect with the far superior, personally specific choices of tick, tick... BOOM!/’21. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2021/12/tick-tick-boom-2021.html

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  *Fred Astaire’s famous dictum held that a musical number that worked on stage for eight & a half minutes could play on screen for no more than three & a half.  (Just bare in mind, he’s referring to the carefree B’way musicals of the 1920s and ‘30s.)