{"id":22887,"date":"2021-06-10T10:01:37","date_gmt":"2021-06-10T17:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=22887"},"modified":"2021-06-10T10:01:37","modified_gmt":"2021-06-10T17:01:37","slug":"in-the-heights-is-high-energy-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=22887","title":{"rendered":"IN THE HEIGHTS is High-Energy Fun"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/24_0008_B-merged.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9454\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>This film opens at theaters and will also be available to\nstream on HBO Max on June 10th.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tony Award-winning playwright and songwriter Lin-Manuel\nMiranda is known for creating the musical <em>Hamilton<\/em>, but fans will also\nknow that he has also helped create other successful stage productions. His\nfirst creation was <em>In the Heights<\/em>, which premiered on Broadway in 2008 to\ngreat acclaim. This week, the story is being given the Hollywood big screen\ntreatment. Like any adaptation from another medium, there are a few minor\nissues present in the translation. However, it\u2019s difficult not to find this\nhigh-energy film anything but punchy and fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/in-the-heights-01-fixed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22888\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Usnavi de la Vega (Anthony Ramos) is a young man running a\nconvenience store in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Born to now-deceased\nimmigrant parents, he dreams of returning to the Dominican Republic and opening\na beachside business. Through song and dance, we learn about his life and those\nwho frequent his shop. For Usnavi, the most notable customers are Vanessa\n(Melissa Barrera), a salon employee whom he has a crush on, along with elderly\n\u201cAbuela\u201d Claudia (Olga Merediz), who has acted as surrogate mother for the lead\nand other locals. There is also Nina (Leslie Grace), a Stanford University\nstudent arriving home for the summer with unexpected news, as well as Usnavi\u2019s good\nfriend Benny (Corey Hawkins). As the next few days progress, the various\ncharacters interact and share their hopes and desires. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/in-the-heights-05-fixed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22891\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Of course, there are other story threads, other characters\nand a winning lottery ticket, which results in a very lengthy narrative.\nHowever, the film makes up for the numerous introductions with an array of\nimpressive musical numbers performed with energy vigor. In fact, the movie does\nits best to make each one more and more impressive. Initially, there are\nlengthy takes following Usnavi and the other characters around his store as\nthey sing, but things become even more elaborate as others get involved. This\nincludes a big performance at the hair salon (even mannequin heads and wigs get\ninvolved) and another using the water at a public pool. The songs hit\ngravity-defying heights, making them engaging and dynamic to watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/in-the-heights-02-fixed-02.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22889\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The catchy musical numbers and photography are a blast, but Ramos\nand the rest of the cast are the real selling point. They are all extremely\nlikable, belting every number out with brash confidence, which is an asset. While\nthere are some noetworthy points made about the difficulties immigrants face on\na daily basis, the personal drama presented is very simple and familiar. Will\nUsnavi leave his neighborhood and will he and get together with Vanessa? Will\nBenny find happiness with Nina and will she return to Stanford for the\nfollowing term? The plights of the central characters aren\u2019t always high-stakes,\nbut at least the enthusiasm on display carries viewers over these formulaic\nelements. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another minor issue has to do with there being so many\nstorylines that when the end of the second act arrives, it\u2019s a full ten minutes\nfeaturing multiple performers having earnest discussions about their dreams and\ndebates about the future. Naturally, all of this material needs to be addressed,\nbut seeing one scene after another dealing with the same kind of choices does\nlend an on-the-nose feeling to the material and begins to slow the pacing down.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/in-the-heights-03-fixed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22890\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, when the characters ultimately turn a corner, their\nbig smiles and charm takes over. If you\u2019re a fan of musicals, this cast and\nnumbers will keep viewers absorbed thought the more predictable story passages.\nWhile the characters may not have as much complexity as they could have, <em>In\nthe Heights<\/em> is still an enjoyable and well-intentioned sugar rush that\u2019ll\nplease anyone looking for upbeat entertainment at the cinema. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This film opens at theaters and will also be available to stream on HBO Max on June 10th. Tony Award-winning playwright and songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda is known for creating the musical Hamilton, but fans will also know that he has also helped create other successful stage productions. His first creation was In the Heights, which [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":22892,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[206,1594,4788,5110,6251,9735,9736,9737,9738,12271,12430,13030,13661,14429,14767,15321,18441,18682,24006],"class_list":["post-22887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-206","tag-anthony-ramos","tag-corey-hawkins","tag-dance","tag-drama","tag-in-the-heights","tag-in-the-heights-film-review","tag-in-the-heights-movie-review","tag-in-the-heights-review","tag-leslie-grace","tag-lin-manuel-miranda","tag-manhattan","tag-melissa-barrera","tag-musical","tag-new-york-city","tag-olga-merediz","tag-sing","tag-song","tag-washington-heights"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22887\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}