Movie Review- In The Heights: The Movie Is Magnificent And Headed To Theaters June 11

Created by legend Lin Manuel Miranda and directed by the phenomenal Jon M. Chu, I was mystified watching In The Heights, especially because I could have watched it again and again.Out June 11 in theaters and HBO Max, I was a kid when I saw the original on Broadway, of which Lin Manuel Miranda always had ticket offers or special prices for his community: people that, probably, wouldn’t have Broadway money. It was the most exciting thing to see people that looked like me, had my stories, and waved my flag dance and sing in cheerful resistance to things that would make anyone breakdown like, poverty and gentrification. Yet, that is the Latino experience; a community known for its joy, creativity, and passion, but ignored in its woes and systemic sufferings. In The Heights: The Movie embodies, in some ways, our struggle to be seen but embraces the reality that we have an undeniable presence. 

There is an instant exuberance to In The Heights, in part, because my people are fabulous. #LatinoLove Yet, we are still amidst a pandemic, and the story places you in a time when people dancing on streets, singing to blasting beats, and laughing and holding each other was natural. Nowadays, I overthink whether or not to shake hands with someone… and I’m VAXXED!  Latino people are a “touchy” people; we do not fear hugs and kisses, at all. Moreover, we are a community that is all about loyalty and taking care of each other, which you feel in the chemistry of this cast. Anthony Ramos is Usnavi, and plays up the sweet nobility of this character. He is a genuinely good guy that want to take care of the QUEEN DE PACIENCIA Y FE, the fabulous Olga Merediz como Abuela Claudia, and the superbly HILARIOUS Sonny (Gregory Diaz IV) Honestly, Diaz is a star and a breathe of fresh to the screen. Together, this trio feels like the emotional fort for a cast of characters that I can genuinely say have crossed my path, many times, in my beloved Washington Heights. 

P.S. Saying that last line made me SUPER EXCITED! The world is going to see my people and hear our music in an American film, which is so rare, even for us. Latinos are still treated as something separate from the fabric of America, which is racist, and in a year where we are set to get, at least, 3 films with Latinos as leads, it is important to remake that we are one of the biggest communities of color with the least representation: with only 3% of films and tv shows, in the last two decades, having us as either leads or co-leads. We KNOW most of the films were helmed by Jennifer Lopez or had us as the criminal or customer service. Yet, In The Heights, has us as people, which is what we are! It was so important to me to see Nina (Leslie Grace) going through an existential crisis, like a regular person! She felt so real to me as “the smart one” who worked her whole life to be scholar for entrance into a higher education institution: only to find it was racist and mean. Thus, she comes home with a lot of baggage to reveal that the ADORABLE Benny (Corey Hawkins) is happy to carry. (I LOVE THIS COUPLE!) Still, the main-baes are Usnavi and Vanessa (Melissa Barrera).

In The Heights: The Movie is really a character piece because Latino people…..we are characters. We are as fun and funny as can be, which is why you watch the many people that try to connect and hook-up Usnavi and Vanessa and LAUGH! The chemistry between Ramos and Barrera is innocent and pure, which feels so unique when portraying Latin Love. Often, we are the passionate, sexy, and “spicy” ones, but these are two young people trying to figure out what they want from life and whether that gives them permission to be loved. Thus, when a potential lotto win sweeps the neighborhood, everyone is enters the crux between their fantasy life and reality. Why? Because this neighborhood is getting gentrified, and 96,000 dollars is just the right amount of money for my people, like my fave hairstylists, Carla (Stephanie Beatriz), Cuca (Dascha Polanco), and Daphne Rubin-Vega (Daniela) to save their salon and make sure the Latino presence remains. This truth felt so palpable to me and moved me in the same ways West Side Story did in capturing how horribly Puerto Ricans were treated back in the day/ still are. 

Amidst one of  the best musical scenes I haver ever seen, especially at a community pool, and songs that blaze with fusions of Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, and Son, I felt so seen. In The Heights explains why representation matters because who does not want to see their humanity, especially the best of it, displayed. It left me so hopeful as Nina and Benny danced across buildings assuring they would be there for each other  in “When The Sun Goes Down” and seeing the absolute burst of happiness and Latino Pride that is Carnaval Del Barrio. In The Heights was mesmerizing and stunning, and felt like electricity struck my heart because I was seeing my people NOT: as kids still being cruelly stuffed in cages or facilities, desperate migrants running through fields and deserts to find compassion, mindless criminals doing aimless gang violence, or maids prepping a wealthy- “gringo” couples’ room and taking care of their kids. Though those can be our tragic realities, they are not the only or even the main ones. The main ones are the human ones of us laughing, singing, dancing, loving, crying, and dreaming. It was spectacular to see that. In The Heights Comes Out IN THEATERS AND On HBO MAX June 11.