You’d be hard pressed at this point to find a person on Earth who hasn’t heard of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s star-making Broadway smash Hamilton, the genre-blending musical about America’s founding fathers. Perhaps driven by the intense hype for that production, Miranda’s first musical In The Heights has now made the jump to the big screen, courtesy of Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu. Does the film version manage to retain that unique blend of technical and narrative mastery with its rapid-fire line delivery and heartfelt story about the struggles of immigrants in New York’s Washington Heights? Absolutely and then some. With an extremely talented cast led by rising star Anthony Ramos, In The Heights is one of the most infectiously uplifting, sing-a-long ready musicals of the last decade, filled to the brim with incredibly choreographed dance sequences and heart.
Our story centres on Usnavi (Ramos), an immigrant to Washington Heights from the Dominican Republic who longs to return home one day, carefully scrimping and saving his meagre earnings from a job running the local corner store in order to fund that dream. As the possibility of a return to his homeland starts to become more concrete, he decides to finally go out on a limb and pursue his crush Vanessa (Melissa Barrera), who is going through her own crisis; dreaming of escaping the Heights and making it in the fashion industry. Meanwhile Usnavi’s close friend Benny (Corey Hawkins) seizes an opportunity to reconnect with former flame Nina (Leslie Grace), when she abruptly returns home from college, harbouring a secret from her fiercely protective and proud father Kevin (Jimmy Smits). These two potential couple’s lives intersect over a long summer heatwave, with obstacle after obstacle arising as they evaluate their places within Washington Heights and how its diverse culture has already shaped their future.
As expected the songs are excellent, pulling from that classic Miranda style as characters belt out minutes of carefully calculated rap-style bars at a time. The opening titular number does an excellent job of acclimatising you to the style of music you will experience over the next 2 and a bit hours, with a seven minute exposition dump of all the major players and their struggles catching you up to speed without ever boring. If you’re not locked in after this opening salvo then you likely never will be but to turn away would be to deny yourself some true ear-worms of songs that you’ll be singing for days to come. Miranda’s knack for delivering tons of dialogue without overwhelming the audience is truly incredible, with precisely timed pauses and beat changes ensuring things always stay fresh. Some songs in the middle may lack the oomph of the bigger numbers but are necessary in fleshing out the world in a way that makes you understand the rich tapestry of different cultures and the pull of the place that has kept Usnavi and his friends there for so long.
Chu’s history on the Step Up franchise serves him well here in adapting the musical to the screen, bringing a sense of scale to the performances not possible on the stage. The choreography is top-notch, with slowly panning wide shots highlighting as much as possible and again the sheer scale of the scenes allows for Chu to show you the variety of the neighbourhood, with everyone from grandmothers to small children joining in on the singing and dancing fun. Swimming pool set number “96,000” is a true spectacle to behold and will have you wondering out loud “how did they film that?!” with hundreds of dancers coming together in perfect timing both above and underwater to bring the scene to life. The silver screen also allows Chu to play with the metaphors of some songs that simply weren’t possible in a live setting, experimenting with gravity throughout a song that emphasises the push and pull away and towards each other that life has levelled on Benny and Nina, as the camera spins and flips as they drift back and forth on the side of a building. It’s creative and daring filmmaking that tries hard to stop fatigue in what could be misconstrued as just another boring musical.
And that’s where the story comes into play. This isn’t a particularly original or surprising story, but rather an excellently told and fully realised vision of the real struggle of immigrants in America struggling to make ends meet and dreaming of exploring the wider world. All the supporting characters – from Miranda’s musical piragua vendor to Stephanie Beatriz’s (Rosa in Brooklyn Nine-Nine) annoying salon worker – seem like (slightly exaggerated) real people, showcasing the diverse number of jobs and social classes within the area and the way in which they all interact and come together as a neighbourhood united by culture. Anthony Ramos (who starred in the original production of Hamilton) is a stellar choice to lead the film, with not only the obviously required singing chops but a great physicality, most evident as he slides and shimmies through the confined space of the corner store; confident in everything he does until Vanessa walks in and knocks that confidence for a loop.
The chemistry between Corey Hawkins and Leslie Grace feels natural and lived in; the duets between them tender and powerful as he pushes her to hold herself to her own standards and not live the life others have put on her shoulders. Hawkins gets to showcase a different side of himself from Straight Outta Compton or Kong: Skull Island and is one of the few rising stars that consistently pushes himself in different projects, showing off an impressive set of pipes here that will surely garner more attention for future jobs like this. If there is a weak link in the core cast it is Melissa Barrera’s Vanessa. The character is easily the whiniest, most unlikeable of the four, constantly moping about her bad situation but never seeming to do too much to correct for it. Barrera certainly has the voice, but doesn’t have the same level of chemistry with Ramos that really makes their relationship seem believable and destined to be like the film tells you it is.
If you’ve never considered yourself much of a fan of musicals, give In the Heights a go. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s patented brand of upbeat rap-heavy line delivery is simply infectious and its hard to leave without a smile on your face. Anthony Ramos transitions from Broadway star to Hollywood star here with a fantastic lead performance that anchors the audience to Usnavi’s struggles within the wider culturally diverse Washington Heights. The supporting cast around him only serve to bolster that feeling of community and the joyous celebration of it, with John M. Chu’s dynamic camerawork never getting in the way and always giving you the best angles on the brilliant choreography. Not being the biggest musical fan I wasn’t expecting to like In the Heights as much as I did. Imagine my surprise when I walked away not only loving it but considering it one of the best films of the year so far. Well played Lin-Manuel. I might just have to check out this Hamilton thing now.
In the Heights stars Anthony Ramos, Melissa Barrera, Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace, Jimmy Smits, Stephanie Beatriz, Gregory Diaz IV, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Olga Merediz & Lin-Manuel Miranda – In cinemas now and streaming on HBO Max in the US.