In the Heights (review) - a mixtape of musical highs and lows

In the Heights is a good project that its original creator has weighed down. Lin-Manuel Miranda needs to adapt his musical style beyond sing-talking and allow some fat-trimming – the pacing of In the Heights is by far the biggest issue, feeling quite sluggish around the end of the first hour. In the Heights arrives in cinemas nationwide on June 18th.

The summer is here, and with it come summer blockbusters – hot, dazzling and sensational films that get you feeling incredible. No other genre does that quite like the musical, and for good reason. Musicals are a celebration of life and the complexities that come with it. The world is also still feeding off the Lin-Manuel Miranda rush of Hamilton, so it makes sense to see a new adaptation of his work. But how does In the Heights fare as a celebration of life in Puerto Rico? And does it send us into the summer dancing?

In many ways, In the Heights feels like a classic Hollywood musical – tales of unspoken romance, big parades of dancing in the street and sensational Broadway singing bellowing through the celluloid give it that classical feel. Jon M. Chu knows how to take us from intimate moments at dusk on the fire escape to 100-person dance mobs in the centre of Washington Heights. However, some of the numbers feel similar to Justin Chazelle’s La La Land, albeit on a less grand scale – once you’ve shut down a whole L.A. highway, dancing in the street becomes a little less impressive. This isn’t to say that there’s no spectacle to Chu’s work, as there are some dazzling musical moments as our cast of characters snap and kick over the electric Latin-American beats.

Most of In the Heights’ issues come from Miranda’s own distinctive flair. Talk-singing can be pretty irritating when done as extensively as it’s done here, speaking even the most mundane sentences as lyrics. While it works well in some moments, it’s got a clunky, uneasy quality that undermines the actual musical performances – we want songs, not slightly musical conversations. Thankfully, not every song feels like a strange musical back-and-forth; some feel like the grand Broadway numbers we expect. Abuela Claudia’s sonnet to her life and block stands out, especially against the colourful tunnels and winding platforms from which she beckons us.

It also feels like In the Heights is a little mis-focused, while the focus may be on Anthony Ramos’ Uznavi’s journey back to Puerto Rico, it’s Leslie Grace’s Nina that captures you. Her struggle with returning to the Heights, grappling with the prestige of being the one who ‘made it out’, and how her block perceives her now is immensely compelling. Unfortunately, this isn’t her story, but it really should be, with the themes touched upon being compelling as we explore the influence a figure like Abuela Claudia can have on a neighbourhood, or the perception held of you by it. It does have a substantial, beating, optimistic heart, as emotions run through the streets of the In the Heights script; it’s the film’s life force. No matter how dire Washington Heights may be, there’s always a glimmer of light from a candle or a firework.