IN THE HEIGHTS Lives Up To Its Name — Review
Juan A. Ramirez
May 21, 2021
Leave everything at home and tell that friend with the speakers to come through, because Jon M. Chu’s In the Heights is the glimmering rainbow under an open fire hydrant, and with just as much force. From its electrifying opening number, the film cements itself as one of the great movie musicals, and sets a high bar for those to come.
Adapted from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s stage musical of the same name, it follows Usnavi (Anthony Ramos), a Washington Heights bodega owner who dreams of returning to his family’s Dominican Republic. Around him, a tight-knit community struggles to remain in place as a rapidly gentrifying New York threatens to change their way of life.
Leave everything at home and tell that friend with the speakers to come through, because Jon M. Chu’s In the Heights is the glimmering rainbow under an open fire hydrant, and with just as much force. From its electrifying opening number, the film cements itself as one of the great movie musicals, and sets a high bar for those to come.
Adapted from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s stage musical of the same name, it follows Usnavi (Anthony Ramos), a Washington Heights bodega owner who dreams of returning to his family’s Dominican Republic. Around him, a tight-knit community struggles to remain in place as a rapidly gentrifying New York threatens to change their way of life.