In The Heights Review: A Musical Celebration of Love, Life, and Community

Release date: June 11, 2021
Running time: 143 minutes
Directed By: Jon M. Chu
Stars: Anthony Ramos, Melissa Barrera, Leslie Grace, Corey Hawkins, Olga Merediz, Jimmy Smits, Gregory Diaz IV, Lin-Manuel Miranda

A film version of the Broadway musical in which Usnavi, a sympathetic New York bodega owner, saves every penny every day as he imagines and sings about a better life.

In The Heights keeps all of the aspects of the musical but transfers it to the big screen.  It really is an accomplishment to keep the high energy and songs from the Broadway show but translate it to a film format.  In The Heights uses a ton of extras and some great camera angles to reproduce the spectacle of a Broadway show from your living room.  Some of the dance numbers are truly impressive, songs that seem to use the entire neighborhood as extras.  It also helps to showcase the energy by having a bright, colorful style.  This leads to splashes of color from clothes, people, and the general set design.  There are also little colorful effects that are used for emphasis, just to add additional splashes during some scenes.  

But what will really strike you is the story of In The Heights.  It tells a relatable story about struggling with life and staying true to your dreams.  It looks at how hard life is but also looks to the positives of it: of love, of community, and of a shared experience even in struggle.  And the movie also highlights the beauty in everyday life.  I loved when the characters would stop and just listen to the sounds of the block, a reminder for everyone to occasionally stop and appreciate what you have (an urban stop and smell the roses).  It also feels just as relevant now as when the musical debuted a decade ago: it deals with the immigrant experience, discrimination, and how to assimilate into America while still staying true to your heritage.  

And although In The Heights is an impressive accomplishment, the movie does have a few relatively slow areas; probably where linking scenes were added to the Broadway show.  It's not bad, just not as high energy in those areas as I had hoped.  This also results in the songs being a little more spaced out than I expected them to be, but it just makes you anticipate the songs more.  But one aspect of the film that is fun to experience is the influence that In The Heights had on Hamilton.  Some of the song feelings, the expressions, and general musical style feel like a precursor to the later show, which is a fun experience for fans of Lin-Manuel Miranda.  

In The Heights is a celebration of life, love, family, community, and hard work with a bright, colorful style and catchy and impactful music.  

Watch it.

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In The Heights is available in theaters and on HBO Max on June 11, 2021.  It will leave HBO Max after July 11, 2021.  For tickets to see it in theaters, click here. 

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