IN THE HEIGHTS
Cert PG ★★★
In cinemas now
In 1999, a student called
Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote a musical celebration of his old neighbourhood, the
Latino community in
Manhattan known as
Washington Heights.
Now, 13 years after its Broadway premiere and five years after he won a Pulitzer Prize for Hamilton, it reaches the big screen at what feels like the perfect time.
The musical thrives in troubled times (Busby Berkeley’s lavish setpieces took root in the Depression era) and this relentlessly optimistic film invites us to shut out the world for a toe-tapping 143 minutes.
Our guide is Usnavi (Anthony Ramos), a corner shop owner saving up to open a beach bar in the Dominican Republic.
On stage, this was Miranda’s part, but here the star, perhaps exhausted by his meteoric rise, has settled for a cameo role as a street vendor of iced drinks.
As Usnavi spells out his “small dream”, he introduces the film’s many supporting players. There’s Jimmy Smits as Kevin, owner of a taxi firm, ordering his lottery tickets in an accomplished baritone.
His daughter Nina (Leslie Grace) is home from university and back with her boyfriend Benny (Corey Hawkins).
There isn’t an overarching story, just soapy subplots that occasionally bubble to the surface, and Miranda’s hip-hop rhythms can be a little hard to follow.
This is more likely to be a problem for British audiences whose knowledge of New York’s Latino communities is largely informed by episodes of Sesame Street.
But, whenever you get lost in the slang, you know there will be a big set piece to cling on to. For me, the highlight was a spectacular sequence in a huge outdoor lido where everyone seems to be having a great time and director Jon M Chu gleefully tips countless swimming hats at Mr Berkeley.