Review of El Cantante (2006) by Scott C — 11 Dec 2007

While not the least bit boring or slow-going, "El Cantante" is unfortunately an over-directed and incoherent mess of a movie that seems unable or possibly unwilling to give the audience even the very basics of a musical biopic: Who is Hector Lavoe? What was his artistic process? Why was he the musical pioneer that he was? While I applaud any film that wants to play with and even re-invent the conventions of the biopic genre, Director Leon Ichaso and his hyperactive cinematographer race through a convoluted structure spanning over 20 years without rhyme or reason aided by J Lo.

, chomping her way through most scenes she is in. Additionally, characters drift in and out without sometimes even knowing who they are and what roles they happened to play in Lavoe's life. Only the music itself and musical sequences (complete with translated lyrics gorgeously floating around the stage) save the film from being a complete disaster.

That said, what we are left with is nearly two hours of cocaine filled madness and Lavoe's endless descent. It's like the second half of "Boogie Nights" without ever having seen the first half.

I knew nothing about Lavoe before seeing this film and once it was over, I knew even less.