Review of El Cantante (2006) by Stephy M — 24 Apr 2012

Oh, where to start. This was definitely a vanity project for both Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez. Yes, they both look a lot like Lavoe and Puchi, and no one can deny Marc Anthony's singing ability and capabilities, but those two CAN'T carry or make a movie on their own.

The bigger problem here is depth. There is no character development. You finish the movie and you feel like Hector Lavoe was just a junkie with talent, that had a deep love for his wife and that's about it.

I wanted to know about his pain, his demons, his sadness. What made Lavoe, LAVOE. They had such a great chance here to dig into his struggles in the early going when he went to NYC. To make a connection with Willie Colon (instead of Puchi) and show how deep that friendship was.

Yes, then again this film was based on Puchi's account of Hector Lavoe's life and hard times, so she had to be in there all the time. But if her perspective was a as shallow as it was portrayed on film, then her life was pitifully as well.

I gave the movie two stars based solely on Hector's music. The rest, was so formulaic and shallow that it's a shame. I am sure there's an E! True Hollywood Story out there that's more insightful than this. And that is sad.