Stream It Or Skip It: ‘In the Heights’ on HBO Max, a Buoyant Adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Pre-‘Hamilton’ Musical

In the Heights, an adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegria Hudes’ musical — Miranda’s precursor to Hamilton — was originally slated to debut a year ago, only to be shelved, like many major releases, due to the pandemic. Honestly, it’s vibrancy would’ve offered welcome respite at the time. Not that there’s ever a bad time to be uplifted, mind you, because now is a perfectly fine time, no matter when now might be. After disappointing during its initial box office run in early Summer 2021, the film is now available to stream on HBO Max.

IN THE HEIGHTS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Washington Heights is Manhattan’s northernmost neighborhood, its population dominated by Dominican Americans. Usnavi de la Vega (Anthony Ramos) bears that heritage — his father immigrated to New York, named him after the first thing he saw when he got there (a U.S. Navy ship, get it?) and opened a bodega. We see Usnavi in front of a lovely Dominican beach scene, holding court for four enraptured children, telling the story of a scorching-hot summer in Washington Heights, where “the streets are made of music.” Cue the subtitle: 3 DAYS UNTIL BLACKOUT, 82°. (Oooooh, omniscience!) Usnavi has finally scraped together enough money to buy his family’s snatch of land in the Dominican Republic. Soon he’ll give up the endless toil of the bodega life and fulfill his dream of living where it’s summer year-round.

But that would mean leaving behind his tight-knit barrio “family,” many of whom will eventually get their own song-and-dance number. Abuela Claudia (Olga Merediz) is the matriarch who had no children of her own but adopted everyone in the neighborhood. Nina (Leslie Grace) was the first to escape the working-class life, getting accepted at Stanford; her father Kevin (Jimmy Smits) sold half of his car service to cover freshman-year tuition, although she struggled mightily and loathes to tell him she’s dropping out. Benny (Corey Hawkins) manages the car service and is Nina’s love interest. Teenage Sonny (Gregory Diaz IV) is Usnavi’s loyal and only employee. Daniela (Daphne Rubin-Vega) runs a salon, employing stylists Cuca (Dascha Polanco) and Carla (Stephanie Beatriz), although rising rent is forcing her to move the business to the Bronx.Vanessa (Melissa Barrera) works as Daniela’s nail tech but dreams of being a fashion designer, and the only thing sweatier and stickier than this summer is the romantic tension between her and Usnavi.

Oh, there’s also the “piragua guy,” the comic-relief snowcone peddler, played by Miranda. That is him, that is he, that is the author of this musical.

Some stuff happens that isn’t the pending blackout. Usnavi learns he sold a winning lottery ticket, and everyone sings about it. Nina wrestles with her decision to return home, and reconnects romantically with Benny, and they sing about it. Abuela remembers her immigration story, and sings about it. Vanessa tries to score a nice apartment downtown and dumpster-dives for fabric scraps, and sings about it. The Fiesta in the Heights looms, a celebratory time of food and togetherness — and singing and dancing. This is how musicals work, people. Will there be singing and dancing when the blackout finally hits? I can neither confirm nor deny that.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: In the Heights has Mamma Mia! gloss but none of the dross. Pair it with Dreamgirls, La La Land or Rocketman (or The Greatest Showman, if you’re one of THOSE people).

Performance Worth Watching: Ramos’ theater resume includes stints as both Sonny and Usnavi in regional productions of In the Heights, and being an original cast member of Hamilton. Movie-wise, he’s only been a supporting player previously (Honest Thief, A Star is Born and others), although he was one of the anchors of Netflix series She’s Gotta Have It. Point being, In the Heights is going to be his introduction to a lot of people, and even though this isn’t quite an Oscar-courting type of role, he shows he’s capable of bearing the majority weight of a big-money production. Next stop: Headlining a Transformers movie. Godspeed, Anthony.

Memorable Dialogue: “On these blocks, you can’t walk two steps without bumping into someone’s big plans.” — Usnavi’s real-estate guy (or maybe he’s a lawyer (or an accountant?)) sums it all up

Sex and Skin: None. TBSADTFOC: Too Busy Singing And Dancing To F—, Of Course.

Our Take: “Let me just listen to my block,” Nina says, closing her eyes and tuning herself to the sounds of basketballs bouncing and indeterminate voices and traffic in the distance, her face framed by chainlink. It’s home, and even though she left it, she can always return to it, and it’s not perfect and she’s not perfect, and it may change and she may change, but the sense of community will always be the thing holding it together. This is In the Heights doing the quiet stuff just as nicely as it does the bigger, louder kinetic stuff, all within the parameters of a setting brought to life with color and vibrancy, with medium-light comedy and drama, with oodles and gobs of visual pep.

In the Heights doesn’t reinvent the musical, but it reaffirms many of its best qualities: Big personalities, big emotions, big production numbers. Director John M. Chu, of Crazy Rich Asians (and TWO Step Ups!) fame, pumps up the volume and makes the most of a charismatic ensemble. His set pieces are lively and brimming with the cultural specificity of its people and setting, the best being “96,000,” a cast-of-dozens number named after the dollar value of the aforementioned lottery ticket, and set at the bustling public pool; the cast sings about what they’d do if they won, and its comedic riff on economic struggle perfectly encapsulates the subtext about joy amidst toil. Or maybe that should be toil amidst joy? There’s a difference.

Look, you’re either on board with unabashedly joyous musicals, or you’re flipping around for something with Jason Statham in it. (Note to movie producers: Please put Jason Statham in a musical.) Miranda’s brand of hip-hopped optimism, occasionally grounded with conscientiously modulated not-too-heavy-but-not-too-fluffy social commentary — in this case, gentrification, racism and the pros and cons of both progress and tradition — may inspire an eyeroll or three from pragmatists in the audience who mistake frequent discussions of Big Dreams for rampant Pollyannaism. (They’ll also be ground down by the film’s too-hefty 143-minute runtime.) But there’s nary an argument to be made against the film’s rich Latino American representation, channeled through its big, bold and earnest heart.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Need a mental pick-me-up? Chances are, you do, and In the Heights is it.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on Twitter: @johnserba.

Stream In the Heights on HBO Max