The year was 2021, and movies were still getting back on their feet. Some companies decided to skip the wait for theaters and just drop them on streaming services, some decided to charge prices for a limited time for this, and others just released movies on both platforms and for no fee. One such film in this dual-release format was the long awaited musical movie adaptation of "In The Heights" having only one trailer before everything shut down in early 2020. This movie was not controversy-free, a film claiming to represent all aspects of Hispanic culture, but leaving out several ethnicities and Afro-Latinos from the cast. The movie might have performed well on streaming but when it came to the big screens it bombed financially, receiving mixed to positive reviews.
When this film first dropped on HBO MAX back when it was called that and not just MAX, I loved it. I watched it about four or five times, and it was only available for about a month until it was added much later for a longer stretch. The story had some changes and kept some things the same, so I was left seeing this not so much as a full-on adaptation, but rather keeping some of the music, and doing its own thing. As time passed and a rewatch or two after some time away, I found myself liking some parts of the movie, loving some parts, and being confused by others. Some aspects I found way better from the stage version, and other decisions where I felt like something was attempted to be fixed that was not broken to begin with.
For example, songs are removed which makes sense to help the movie fit a run time, but even with that this movie runs at over two hours, and some storylines are cut down or removed, but this involves things not making sense or characters being killed off for no reason. Some of the story changes work incredibly well, and some of them are being kept work but some don't. They change the song order as well, sometimes working and sometimes not. For example, the lottery ticket plot from the original flows naturally and becomes an interesting plot point, but isn't even addressed, changing the order and meaning of my favorite song "Paciencia y Fe" into this look back at Abuela's death right before she dies, but then why have the lottery ticket in the movie at all? Killing off Nina's mother leads nowhere, and then there's Benny.
Much like the stage show, so much is going on, there are so many plots, and some of them are never resolved, mainly Benny's, you never know his outcome, and he is a character you spend over half the movie with. The plot can be heartwarming, and touching, as well as have real moments, but then also be baffling at the same time. They add Sonny's father for one scene and all it does is pad out the run time, some of the emotions hit a strong chord, but then some don't like Usnavi's fight with Vanessa during the blackout. For every good change or good performance, there is one in the writing and plot that leaves me beyond confused. Some lyric changes also baffled me and did not fit as they reference songs the characters did not sing, or songs that were cut.
The instrumentation is also a mixed bag, sometimes it fits perfectly and other times it is way too soft, and tries to be different. But what do I like about this?
The performances and acting are phenomenal, and most of the music is incredible. The songs are well shot, well performed, and have amazing choreography. The way they are filmed, using a solo, duet, or ensemble is incredible, most of the songs hit it right out of the park. Even with my qualms with this version of "Paciencia y Fe" in terms of the changes made and where it is placed into the plot, I love the way it looks, it is shot wonderfully and is gorgeous, made into a visually striking scene. And that goes for so many of the songs, the actors knock them all out of the park, "In The Heights", "Benny's Dispatch", "Breath", "It Won't Be Long Now", "96,000", "When You're Home", "The Club", "Blackout" and "Finale" all stand out. There are a couple numbers I am simply okay with but most of them, are unforgettable.
The acting is incredible as well, emotion-packed, whether comedic or serious, the acting is amazing. I just wish the material was better, there are more than seven plot lines going on in this movie, two romances, lots of dreams, and multiple emotional conflicts, to the point where as mentioned earlier they are not all resolved. But there is still plenty of good in the movie, great acting, great music, and it is visually a marvel in scenes both big and small, well acted too. The editing is also fantastic, the visuals re amazing, in shots both long and short of all kinds.
I would say watch the movie at least once and perhaps listen to the soundtrack alongside the Broadway version. Funny enough the Broadway version also has too many plot points, but much like that the music is incredible, and it is fun to see where Lin Manuel Miranda started. This movie has enough good music, some good acting, a couple of the plots are well done, and is charming enough for a watch, at least one, I think I can find myself watching this every once in a while, sometimes all the way through, and sometimes just for the musical performances.
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