MOVIE
In The Heights
Director John M Chu
Review Ray Chan
West Side Story this ain’t.
This overbearing adaptation of a screenplay by Lin-Manuel Miranda is a musical with a working-class New York setting, but that’s pretty much where the comparison with the Stephen Sondheim classic ends.
The title refers to Washington Heights, a mainly Latino neighbourhood at the north tip of Manhattan, where the protagonist Usnavi (Anthony Ramos) runs the corner grocery shop while planning to take over his late father’s business back in the Dominican Republic.
A framing device depicts a slightly older Usnavi on an idyllic beach, telling his story to an audience of children, who exhibit a commendable patience because In the Heights doesn’t really have a story – at least, not one that needs to be stretched over nearly two and a half hours.
Basically, the movie revolves around two couples. Usnavi likes Vanessa, who works at the local beauty parlour, and Usnavi’s pal Benny likes Nina, who falls out with her father over her choice to quit university.
As well, because it’s intended to be a musical, with wildly over-the-top choreographed sequences and flash mob scenes popping out at every major turn, it’s a weirdly sanitised picture of human existence in general: no sex, humour, violence, and only the minimum of bad language.
Director John M Chu ensures that any drama that exists is never to the point where anything gets truly painful, while also failing to summon enough comedic forays to create a light-hearted balance.
And then we come to the raison d'etre, the actual musical numbers. While intended to be extravagant, they are over-edited and visually cluttered, not helped by the songs and lyrics crafted but not mastered by that jack of all trades, Miranda himself.
This reviewer is firmly in the group of those who do not put him on some lofty pedestal as a modern-day Sondheim, in whose league he definitely does not belong.
Still basking in the afterglow of his Broadway smash hit Hamilton, the playwright is fortunate that he’s still revered as some wunderkind of the stage and musical.
Yes, there are many other less talented craftsmen out there in the entertainment world. In his favour, Miranda can act, can write, can direct, looks good, and can carry a tune. But songwriting is far from his strongest attribute.
He lacks the melodic nous of a Richard Rodgers, a Lionel Bart, a Lloyd-Webber, a Richard and Robert Sherman, and yes, a Stephen Sondheim, who graced us with unforgettable lilting masterpieces such as America, Maria, and Tonight, from the afore-mentioned West Side Story.
On the other hand, see if you can remember any of the tunes from In The Heights, even if you’re game enough to go to multiple viewings.
#intheheightsThis overbearing adaptation of a screenplay by Lin-Manuel Miranda is a musical with a working-class New York setting, but that’s pretty much where the comparison with the Stephen Sondheim classic ends.
The title refers to Washington Heights, a mainly Latino neighbourhood at the north tip of Manhattan, where the protagonist Usnavi (Anthony Ramos) runs the corner grocery shop while planning to take over his late father’s business back in the Dominican Republic.
A framing device depicts a slightly older Usnavi on an idyllic beach, telling his story to an audience of children, who exhibit a commendable patience because In the Heights doesn’t really have a story – at least, not one that needs to be stretched over nearly two and a half hours.
Basically, the movie revolves around two couples. Usnavi likes Vanessa, who works at the local beauty parlour, and Usnavi’s pal Benny likes Nina, who falls out with her father over her choice to quit university.
As well, because it’s intended to be a musical, with wildly over-the-top choreographed sequences and flash mob scenes popping out at every major turn, it’s a weirdly sanitised picture of human existence in general: no sex, humour, violence, and only the minimum of bad language.
Director John M Chu ensures that any drama that exists is never to the point where anything gets truly painful, while also failing to summon enough comedic forays to create a light-hearted balance.
And then we come to the raison d'etre, the actual musical numbers. While intended to be extravagant, they are over-edited and visually cluttered, not helped by the songs and lyrics crafted but not mastered by that jack of all trades, Miranda himself.
This reviewer is firmly in the group of those who do not put him on some lofty pedestal as a modern-day Sondheim, in whose league he definitely does not belong.
Still basking in the afterglow of his Broadway smash hit Hamilton, the playwright is fortunate that he’s still revered as some wunderkind of the stage and musical.
Yes, there are many other less talented craftsmen out there in the entertainment world. In his favour, Miranda can act, can write, can direct, looks good, and can carry a tune. But songwriting is far from his strongest attribute.
He lacks the melodic nous of a Richard Rodgers, a Lionel Bart, a Lloyd-Webber, a Richard and Robert Sherman, and yes, a Stephen Sondheim, who graced us with unforgettable lilting masterpieces such as America, Maria, and Tonight, from the afore-mentioned West Side Story.
On the other hand, see if you can remember any of the tunes from In The Heights, even if you’re game enough to go to multiple viewings.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.