Broadway musical blockbusters are always a hit-or-miss despite their catchy songs, but In the Heights is definitely a hit to me. The play version of In the Heights is mostly famous for being the musical that helped catapult Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda into the public sphere. And the 2021 film version, helmed by Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu, is a triumphant adaptation, confidently reworking the stage show into a gorgeous, vibrant film that captures both the bigness of musical theater and the intimacy that comes with telling a story about a specific culture. In its joyous excess, In the Heights makes a case for adapting Broadway musicals into Hollywood cinema. The musical numbers are freed from the boundaries of the stage, and they don’t waste that freedom. The dance routines feel like gorgeous action-movie set-pieces, thanks to Alice Brooks’ cinematography, and the cast is a constellation of Latinx legends and up-and-comers alike. Every summer should have a movie like this one.
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