Directed by John M. Chu
Written by Quiara Alegría Hudes
Starring Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace, Melissa Barrera, Olga Merediz
Runtime: 2 hours 23 minutes
Rated PG-13 for some language and suggestive references
Available in theaters and on HBO Max on June 11

by Ryan Silberstein, Managing Editor, The Red Herring

Within my limited forays back into theaters so far this year, In the Heights is the only one so far that truly captured that magic of why seeing movies on the big screen is my favorite thing. Part of that is tied into the film’s overall quality, which is excellent, and part of that is my affinity for musicals in general. I don’t pay too much attention to Broadway, so the story and songs of In the Heights were brand new to me as I watched this incarnation.

Set in the largely Dominican community of Washington Heights, Manhattan, In the Heights focuses on a few characters over the course of three days as they wrestle with the course of their lives. They are: Usnavi (Anthony Ramos), a young bodega owner who wants to return to the Dominican Republic and reopen his father’s beach bar, Nina (Leslie Grace), back from college and unsure if she wants to continue, Vanessa (Melissa Barrera) a local salon worker who wants to find a career in fashion design, and Nina’s father, Kevin (Jimmy Smits) who owns a local cab company, where Benny (Corey Hawkins) works as a dispatcher and attempts to rekindle things with Nina while she is back home.

The neighborhood setting seems to perfectly capture the profile of many communities of New York in the last 20 years. As crime rates and the prevalence of street drugs have receded in many areas, the new threat to these ethnic enclaves is gentrification. Real estate that was mostly avoided by the well-off for decades is now seen as ripe for “improvement”–which often seems to mean buying up older buildings and replacing the residents with luxury condos and chain stores. While most of the characters dream of–or resign themselves to–leaving Washington Heights, In the Heights isn’t mournful in its tone. Rather, Quiara Alegría Hudes and Lin-Manuel Miranda focus on celebrating perseverance and love. This slots In the Heights closer to You’ve Got Mail than Do the Right Thing in terms of tone, but Hudes and Miranda’s story aptly sits alongside Nora Ephron’s and Spike Lee’s observations of New York.

Like many great musicals, In the Heights doesn’t go for one emotion, and manages to deftly focus on hope, love, sadness, fear, and triumph in its music, giving many of the ensemble cast well-defined character arcs to play into, while the stories are woven together to tell the bigger picture. Bringing this story to life on the screen is no small feat, but John M. Chu manages to strike a balance between acknowledging In the Heights’ stage roots and embracing cinematic panache. The crowd scenes, involving myriad backup dancers, will bring the camera into the action while never losing focus on the dance itself. Some of these sequences–most notably “96,000,” which is set at a community pool–take full advantage of not being bound by the stage, which provides a sense of immersion. Given his start with the Step Up franchise, it’s not a surprise that Chu delivers a modern movie musical that doesn’t feel embarrassed about being a movie musical, imbuing this story with its modern point of view, the kind of infatuation with song and dance that recalls Stanley Donen. The use of light in the blackout sequence, in particular, made my jaw drop, purely based on the images captured on the screen, while “Paciencia y Fe” takes stage choreography and creates something that beautifully encapsulates one person’s life.

Chu’s job is made easier through a captivating group of performers. While Anthony Ramos has appeared in big movies like A Star is Born and Godzilla: King of the Monsters, he steps into the spotlight for the first time as Usnavi, playing the role Miranda originated (but thankfully decided he was too old to play in this film). While In the Heights encompasses a few storylines, Ramos brings to life the “should I stay in the neighborhood or move somewhere new” conflict at the center of the story. Leslie Grace is right there with him as Nina. Through her relationship with her father, and by extension the neighborhood, she personifies the generational story being told. How much of what we aim to accomplish is built upon the expectations our parents had for us to have a better life? For Nina, this pressure is stacked up against her not feeling accepted by the privileged atmosphere of Stamford. With all her parents went through, she can stand to feel out of place for a few years. Or can she? Should she?

In the Heights reminds us that immigrant stories don’t end with the people that stepped off the boat. They continue to cascade forward in time, as successive generations struggle to define (and redefine) their identities. For many, especially in Latin American communities, that identity crosses multiple ethnic and national backgrounds. While “Carnaval del Barrio” may be the most cheese-laden song in the film (it has the energy and obviousness of a Tenacious D song, which I don’t normally associate with Broadway) it nonetheless speaks to the commonality of the immigrant experience in America.

Sincere and hopeful, In the Heights is also one of the few things that has managed to give me a twinge of patriotism in the last few years. America, as a country, has a lot of problems–from its moment of inception, they have persisted. But America, as an idea, is one of progress. As we continue to try and define ourselves, we can change the narrative about “who” and “what” counts as the American Dream.