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Harvey Karten's Reviews

Review: El Cantante

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#1 of 1 Posted 7/25/07 10:11 PM

From Harveycritic Posts 1632 Last Nov-2
To All [Msg # 22545.1 ]

EL CANTANTE

Reviewed for CompuServe by Harvey S. Karten
Picturehouse
Grade: B
Directed by: Leon Ichaso
Written By: Leon Ichaso, David Darmstaedter, Todd Anthony Bello, story by David Darmstaedter, Todd Anthony Bello
Cast: Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez, John Ortiz, Manny Perez, Antone Pagan, Vincent Laresca
Screened at: Broadway, NYC, 7/25/07
Opens: August 1, 2007

A general dictionary states that salsa is a mixture of rock and jazz, but this is simplistic. This form of Latin music, which reached its heights during the 1970's particularly in New York, combines several Latin dance forms including mambo, rumba, merengue, plena and jazz. It can be danced to, of course, and you haven’t really heard it if your listening has been restricted to what’s playing on the radio. If you live in an apartment house or do not have a state of the art hi fi system, you’re missing something, something that you’d gain if you heard the vivacious rhythms at the cineplex where no-one worries about the neighbors or playing the stuff after ten in the evening. If this sounds like a recommendation to see Leon Ichaso’s “El Cantante,” then so be it. The sounds are great. The story, though, is not only a downer (not a negative judgment since downers can be satisfying theater), but is a composite of cliches that we’re accustomed to whenever we watch the story of a celebrity whose career goes downhill via his use of coke or heroin or crack. As for why people in the spotlight destroy their lives with drugs and booze, some say the cause is family friction, others a rejection by parents, but what’s generally agreed upon is that being on stage in front of a vast audience is a great turn-on while being an ordinary civilian between gigs is not exciting. Some celebs crave excitement all the time, ergo, drugs.

Such is probably the case in the career of Hector Lavoe (Marc Anthony), well-known enough in the Latino community but not a household name among the general population–non-Hispanics whose awareness of Latino musicians may be restricted to names like Tito Puente and Willie Colon. Colon is the trombonist who spent a good deal of his career partnered with Lavoe. Hector Perez, as he was called until he began his rise to stardom, moved from Puerto Rico to New York, realizing that only in the Big Apple could his career blossom. According to this biopic, which is framed by a black-and-white interview with his widow, Puchi Lavoe (Jennifer Lopez), Hector was lucky to be paired with trombonist Willie Colon (John Ortiz): together they made beautiful salsa music, instrumental in creating that musical genre’s popularity. Hector made the rounds of parties with his then girlfriend, years later entering into marriage–though his being strung out on dope made him almost miss his own wedding. While Puchi occasionally snorted coke, she became nowhere near her husband, who regularly injected himself with heroin. He eventually proved HIV positive, presumably from sharing needles, and died from AIDS at the age of forty-six.

The biopic is divided largely into scenes encompassing Hector’s private life with Puchi, a marriage that had its ups and downs (like all others) but in their case, Hector’s constant high became a source of rage in his partner.Jennifer Lopez as Puchi pulls no punches as she lashes out against her man–who later became paranoid, accusing his wife of making it with the musicians in the band. The chemistry between then is sizzling (despite their being married in real life).

While the narrative is old hat, the movie takes off every time we hear Lavoe and his band get into the salsa groove with songs written by Willie Colon such as “Todo Tiene Su Final” and “El Dia De Mi Suerte” (the latter co-written by Lavoe), while the title song, “El Cantante,” written by Ruben Blades, is at a much slower pace than what most of us consider typical salsa.

Director Leon Ichaso makes sure that non-Spanish-speaking audience members know the actual words of the songs by creating large, bold, subtitles and supertitles, further boosting the glory of the musical segments of the film.

Rated R. 116 minutes © 2007 by Harvey Karten Member: NY Film Critics Online

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Harvey Karten's Reviews

Review: El Cantante

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