In The Heights

I think the musical may be the genre with the most ‘hall of fame classics’ thoroughly in the past, with nary a modern entry in sight. Ok, we’ve had La La Land, the A Star Is Born remake and, I guess, Frozen and Coco on the animated side (and some will count Baby Driver) but they don’t quite fit the bill of what we’d class as the ‘classic-watch-it-with-the-family-on-a-rainy-Sunday’ musical (I’d also argue that Les Misérables and Sweeney Todd, whilst excellent, are a little on the downbeat side.)

Well step right up In The Heights, which can take its seat right on the top table (and with the upcoming Spielberg version of West Side Story, could make 2021 the year the musical strikes back.)

It’s hard to put a finger on why this type of film hasn’t been more unanimous in recent times. Cinemas want big audiences back and this would seem a logical solution but, strangely, the limited amount of showings In The Heights is receiving would suggest it’s doing something wrong in appealing to the masses.

It’s extremely hard to see why: you can’t have one family conversation without someone blurting their approval of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s all-conquering Hamilton and this cinema offering is a big-screen version of his more populist earlier offering which, whilst still featuring a large amount of hip hop-leaning songs, is more willing to throw a gigantic pop chorus or two your way.

It’s a brilliant small-scale story of a larger-scale message, focusing on a smattering of interconnected characters on a block of Washington Heights and their daily lives, relationships and dreams across what is mostly a few days one summer. It’s a film of feeling, of pride, of belonging and of history so its plot developments and messages are perhaps better suited to a stage environment than film, but it’s so beautifully-realised that the lack of larger dramatic beats is of little consequence.

The songs are brilliant as well, hitting hard on screen with some frankly stunning choreography that’ll have your mouth agape as well as your toes tapping. There’s, perhaps, a song or two too many included (the runtime is over 2 hours) but it absolutely breezes by so I'm not going to argue with that decision too much. It’s also stunningly performed by an assortment of stage and lesser-known screen stars who are all absolutely destined for bigger heights (excuse the pun) after this.

The ending is a tiny bit bittersweet, and a few strands are left dangling, but I get the impression that this is by design. The story is what you make of it, the journey is more important than the destination and some destinations still remain frustratingly out of reach for many.

It’s a film seemingly made out of pure energy, an absolutely infectious, old-skool blockbuster musical that just can’t help slapping a massive smile on your face. How this hasn’t had families dancing in cinema aisles is bewildering – go make this a classic rather than a hidden gem.

4 stars ****