In the Heights is a sensation for the cinema and also now streaming on HBO Max! The film is of course based on the musical which opened on Broadway on March 2008. It won Best Musical, Best Original Score for Lin-Manuel Miranda, Best Choreography, and Best Orchestrations at the 2008 Tony Awards. It also won that year the Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album. In the Heights was in development at Universal Pictures, but went back into development.
Miranda, in the meantime, produced Hamilton! Jon M. Chu signed on as director and this led to its release, after a brief pause, on June 10th in theaters and HBO Max. Chu is of course known for directing Crazy Rich Asians (2018), but more relevant may be Step Up: 2 The Streets (2008). The screenplay is by the Pulitzer Prize winning Quiara Alegria Hudes, whom also wrote the book of the musical. It begins with some gentle piano when we hear the radio, a news report, and then voices, a little girl, Iris (Olivia Perez) asks a man played by Anthony Ramos, what does sueñito mean? He replies “little dream.”
This shifts to the Dominican Republic beach washed with aqua green waves. One kid wants to go in the water. The man has something to tell them coming around from his beachfront bar. He tells them the story of a block that was “disappearing” in Nuevo York, a barrio called Washington Heights. The places are give titles almost like a fairy tale. The music played underneath his storytelling comes later. He has the kids shout out the name so it won’t disappear like clapping for Tinkerbell.
The man says “The streets were made of music” and starts knocking out a beat on his chair. Sunrise in Nuevo York, it reminds me of the opening of West Side Story, we hear the morning DJ. He says there is a heatwave so the mayor says to cut down use of air conditioners and a weekend party, Fiesta in the Heights. The man wakes up tired and sees pictures of his father and greets Abuela Claudia played by Olga Merediz who was in the Broadway production. She is the heart of the film, another actress and the film would not work.
The man starts walking, gets gum on a manhole cover on his shoe, the kids laugh at that part. He starts to rotate the manhole cover like a DJ scratching a record. “In The Heights” is sung by the man who notices a tagger, Graffiti Pete (Noah Catala) spraying the grate of his store. He unlocks the grate and opens it before seeing the Piragua Man (Miranda). The lead in the musical was played by Miranda, but here he plays the hard working independent worker later pitted against a corporate ice cream truck, Mr. Softee (Chris Jackson).
He is another cast member from the Broadway production and played Benny. Ramos, Miranda, and Jackson of course starred in Hamilton. The young man introduces himself as Usnavi, Usnavi de la Vega, who lost his parents and hoped to go back to the Dominican Republic. Usnavi finds that his fridge broke and his milk that he is famed for has turned back. Abuela Claudia arrives and has an old recipe, a can of condensed milk, Usnavi gives her a lottery ticket, Abuela kisses it and says, “Paciencia Y Fe.” Patience and faith that is very important for her character, a mother, advisor, and inspiration to the block.
Usnavi explains that his abuela is not really his family member, but she raised him, also she’s everyone on the block’s abuela. He runs into some tourists and gives them direction on the woman’s ipad. Usnavi says to the kids that he will test them on the directions and they laugh. Usnavi goes on to stay local business Ortega’s was bought up and the rents went sky high. The chorus picks up the song showing various people starting their day. Then, Usnavi introduces Kevin Rosario (Jimmy Smits) who runs a taxi cab company, Rosario’s Car Service. Jimmy Smits has many acting credits to his name including NYPD Blue, but I think this is his best part and he can sing the few lines he gets in the movie. Usnavi explains that his daughter, Nina, is away at college with expensive tuition. He enters Usnavi’s bodega and gets his usual morning snacks. He sings that Nina arrived last night and Usnavi adds that Abuela has been cooking all week. This was changed from his wife, Camila, dropped from the movie’s storyline.
Then, we get the Salon Ladies; Daniela (Daphne Rubin-Vega), owner of the salon, Carla (Stephanie Beatriz), and Cuca (Dascha Polanco), a character added for the film. They gossip about people as they cross the street. Rubin-Vega is an actress on the Katy Keene show, but I recognize her as the original actress for Mimi Marquez in the musical Rent. Beatriz was in the police comedy show, Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Cuca flirts with Usnavi and he just smiles. Then, his cousin, Sonny (Gregory Diaz IV), enters late for his shift. Diaz IV was in episodes of the comedy series, Unbreakable Kimmy Schimdt, and also some stage musicals.
His character is young, fun, and an activist for immigrant rights. Usnavi continues running through his bodega routine so he can calculate any total. The chorus picks up the song and then we get the entrance of Benny (Corey Hawkins) in dress shirt and tie. Hawkins is known for playing Dre in the bio drama, Straight Outta Compton (2015), but he really should be known for his singing! Benny works as a dispatch for Kevin’s company and he is also interested in Kevin’s daughter, Nina! He brings up to Usnavi if Vanessa has come to the bodega and his friend gets shy.
Benny wants Usnavi to ask Vanessa out if not Sonny chimes in with Benny, “you aint’ got no skills.” Very funny. Usnavi is a central figure in the movie, a narrator to the kids, and confident in everything except Vanessa. Then, we have the arrival of Vanessa Barrera (Melissa Barrera). When she showed up on screen outside of the bodega on the phone with a landlord, I immediately thought she was Vanessa. Barrera was the lead in the drama Vida and can sing with the best of them. Usnavi nervously follows Vanessa and knocks down an item to wave at her. She says he owes her champagne bottle. Vanessa is trying to get a place downtown, but is having problems with the rent.
Usnavi gives her a coffee on the house. Benny and Sonny pass behind Usnavi and try to get him to ask Vanessa out. Vanessa smiles and leaves. Sonny and Benny laugh at his shyness. Usnavi stares out the bodega’s window where he sees the whole street dancing, Christopher Scott is the choreographer, he worked with Jon M. Chu on Step Up 2: The Streets. There is an energetic quality to the dances, very Latin (like West Side Story+), and also updating the classic Busby Berkeley musicals. Usnavi joins the street dance. The cinematography is by Alice Brooks who also worked with Chu on Jem and the Holograms (2015). It reveals the beauty of the New York block, the dancing, especially the pool scene where all aspects of the production are incredible, it is a Esther Williams piece, just elaborate in an urban setting.
The title of the film comes up after the dance. We also get the title card, 3 Days Until Blackout. Then, we get Alejandro (Mateo Gómez), a lawyer who has brought Usnavi pictures of a bar, El Suenito, ravaged by a storm. They shake hands on a deal for the bar that needs to be restored. Usnavi looks to a map of the Dominican Repubic on the bodega wall. We get the last character important to the story, Nina Rosario played by Leslie Grace, she is a singer. Nina is one of the most troubled characters, she is caught between the Washington Heights residents who admire her accomplishments, her father, and Nina’s mistreatment at Stanford University on the other coast. Usnavi describes her as valedictorian and a business manager for her father, Kevin.
Vanessa is suprised to see her and tells her Benny is on the dispatch. Benny goes into “Benny’s Dispatch” giving help to drivers. He notices that Nina has entered. Benny is excited and goes on the dispatch next to a trio of women, then invites Nina to take the mic. She is happy to greet the drivers, but leaves with a smile. Benny is saddened at her leaving. Usnavi calls out to Nina, they hug, and then get out of the street when a police siren blares. Sonny wants Nina to join him in a march to support DREAMers. In The Heights is a visual feast, a strong story about people who don’t get opportunities no matter how hard they work, memorable songs that play on repeat in your mind, a romance, and everything you want in a musical and movie!
Five+ Piraguas out of Five!
#InTheHeights, #JonMChu, #LinManuelMiranda, #AnthonyRamos, #MelissaBarrera, #LeslieGrace, #CoreyHawkins, #OlgaMerediz, #JimmySmits, #GregoryDiazIV, #DaphneRubinVega, #StephanieBeatriz, #DaschaPolanco, #ChrisJackson
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