‘In the Heights’ Soars with Critics
Learn more about Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony-winning musical movie adaptation below.
Before “Hamilton,” Lin-Manuel Miranda made waves in the Broadway world for his 2008 musical “In the Heights.” This past weekend, the long-awaited movie adaptation hit theaters. Directed by “Crazy Rich Asians” John M. Chu, the film earned the top box office figures for a new release over the weekend and rave reviews from critics and audiences alike. It has a 97 percent Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score, a 95 percent audience score and an “A” from CinemaScore.
The feel-good Warner Bros. film simultaneously premiered on HBO Max, uplifting the stories and vibrancy of Latinx culture in both theaters and homes globally. The movie centers on a close-knit community in NYC’s Washington Heights neighborhood. The intergenerational characters navigate a variety of issues over the course of three days, ultimately discovering the meaning of family, hard work, sacrifice and dreams.
“To quote ‘In the Heights’ itself, the streets are made of music in the first genuinely cheerful, splashy, exuberantly life-affirming movie of the summer.” Washington Post
Likeable bodega owner Usnavi dreams of moving back to the Dominican Republic to reopen his father’s beachside bar where he believes he’ll have a better life. While he grinds away in Washington Heights, his cousin Sonny, his love-interest Vanessa, his best friends Benny and Nina and his adopted Abuela Claudia color his life in the pursuit of their own dreams. The fantastic cast stars Anthony Ramos, Melissa Barrera, Leslie Grace, Olga Merediz and Jimmy Smits.
The movie’s authenticity comes not only from its cast, but from the set location itself as it was filmed on the actual streets of Washington Heights. And this authentic approach obviously reached audiences. The New York Times wrote: “It's a piece of mainstream American entertainment in the best sense - an assertion of impatience and faith, a celebration of communal ties and individual gumption, a testimony to the power of art to turn struggles into the stuff of dreams.” And Vox shared: “That's the mark of a vital work of art: that it has something new to say each time someone is willing to listen. I suspect we'll be listening to In the Heights for a long, long while.”
“In the Heights” is playing in theaters now and will be available for licensing from Swank soon.