KRR: So, Why Was 'In The Heights' A Flop?

Note: Canadian movie theaters are just now beginning to reopen in my area, so I'm gonna be covering a bunch of summer movies that have been out for awhile in America, but are just now getting to international audiences. 

This is a review I've been meaning to write for nearly two weeks. But as I sat down to put pen to paper last weekend, Earth had other plans. The Pacific Northwest, where I happen to live, was hit by the hottest heatwave in recorded history. Bridges warped, cables melted, towns were set ablaze, and thousands were hospitalized with heat exhaustion. And with a largescale shortage of AC units and fans, millions of people (myself included) were roasting inside 100+ degree homes. So, that's why I haven't written this review. Ironically, by suffering inside during a heatwave, I was granted a new clarity on the fun summer musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda: In The Heights.

Before Hamilton shot Lin-Manuel Miranda into the pop cultural sun, he was but a playwright known for In The Heights, a Tony Award winning musical celebrating the black and Latinx culture of Washington Heights, the neighborhood in which Miranda grew up. Now, as a global superstar, Miranda got with Quiara Alegría Hudes and Jon Chu (director of Crazy Rich Asians) to bring In The Heights to the big screen. The musical tells the story of a summer in Washington Heights, where a heatwave leads to a blackout, old couples reunite, new love is born, and gentrification is knocking at the door. Not to mention, there's dancing on every street (and on the sides of buildings too...?). It's a movie musical teeming with so much joy and song, you may think In The Heights is all anyone wants to see after spending more than a year quarantined away. And yet, that's not the case.

Why aren't people flocking to this magical, musical bodega? 

 

-SPOILERS AHEAD-

So, before the Lin-Manuel Miranda crowd out there that's seen In The Heights four times comes at me, let me provide you with some numbers. The studios spent eleven and a half million dollars making this movie. Since its debut on June 11th, the movie has brought in thirty-two million dollars globally. That's it. F9 debuted a week ago, and it's already brought in half a billion dollars. Now, a star-studded action movie that's part of a major franchise isn't a fair comparison to this musical, which has relatively no star-power and is certainly not part of any franchise; but still, the point remains - people are willing to go to the theater, just not to In The Heights. Why?

"People don't like musicals," seems to be the go-to response for this question. I don't buy it. First of all, people do like musicals. People love musicals. Look at all the love for Les Mis, or Hamilton, or Frozen, or Grease, or, or, or... People love musicals. And In The Heights has the hits to draw people in. Just like everything Lin-Manuel Miranda touches, it is jampacked with songs (to the point where the music gets in the way of the story, I'd argue). The music is infectious. It's a toe-tapping, shoulder-shimmying good time. With so many songs, even the most ardent haters of musicals will find something in In The Heights to enjoy. 

I mean, that looks like a good time, right??

No, I don't think people are avoiding In The Heights necessarily because it's a musical. I think the music has almost nothing to do with it. In fact, I think the music might be the film's one saving grace. If you ignore everything else about the movie, you know you'll leave having seen some beautiful choreography and musical set pieces. I've given this a lot of thought, and I think the reason In The Heights has received such a lukewarm response is because of everything else in the movie.

Much like with his personal politics, there's a sort of neoliberal optimism that bleeds into Miranda's scripts. In In The Heights, there's no real confrontation of poverty, racism, wealth inequality, or even soccer rivalries. Miranda's Washington Heights is a bright-eyed Eden where the troubles are superficial, a far cry from the reality. You don't need to see In The Heights to know that much to be true. Watch Hamilton. Hell, watch the trailer attached above. The film lacks a true central conflict, and instead pushes easy solutions to complex problems the way politicians peddle them during campaign stops. 

Something, something, "I guess that's why they call it window pane."

For example, just about two hours into the film, a new narrative is introduced when suddenly the characters take on the fight of ending the deportation of Dreamers. That's a hefty topic. Not one to be tackled in twenty minutes or less. But In The Heights gives it a shot. It misses, wide to the right. And by failing to address such a serious topic, one they themselves broached, it encapsulates the biggest fears (and subsequent disappointments) with the film: It thinks it's saying something, when it isn't. 

There's a lot to love about In The Heights. There are some truly beautiful musical numbers, the cast with Anthony Ramos at the lead is wickedly talented, and despite the absolutely abysmal colorism on display, this kind of representation is still important. But where it falls flat is in pretending to be more than those things.

Give me more time with them and this movie is a 10.

The hope was that audiences would leave In The Heights singing the songs of Usnavi, Benny, Nina, Sonny, and the rest of the Washington Heights crew. What has happened instead - the exhaustion with Lin-Manuel Miranda, the highlights of the film's shortcomings, the evisceration of the narrative failures and lack of character development -  is the result of trying to do too much.

In The Heights was supposed to be a movie about a neighborhood where the streets "were made of music," even during a sweltering summer. The irony is that instead it turned out to be a musical mess that flew too close to the sun. And in a summer that's already too hot, audiences don't want on that ride. 

Your friendly reminder that no matter how good a writer he is, Lin-Manuel Miranda still cannot sing.

In The Heights KRR: 6.5/10