Review of El Cantante (2006) by José C — 27 Aug 2007

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie and ended up clapping with fellow audience members upon its conclusion.

The performances by Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez were very good, certainly the best in their career as actors. My one cavetat, however, is that sometimes I wonder how much of it was JLO and Marc actually acting and not being themselves. After all, Marc is a salsero just like Hector, and JLO is as Nuyorican as Puchi was. However, Marc became Hector Lavoe and JLO was truly believable as his wife. Lest I forget, Jennifer Lopez looks stunning in this film and I?m sure the great Marc Anthony made a point of it to the production team. Also, seeing Marc and JLO cussing each other out in the film was another highlight, along with a hilarious and drugged-up wedding scene.

The music was excellent throughout as well. Marc gives a very good treatment to the Lavoe classics and the songs mesh well with the events depicted in the script. Many viewers likely bought the accompanying film soundtrack because it is excellent music and the song?s themes sequentially depict what happened in the film.

The quality of the production was very good. Certainly, the director and production team did not spend the $5 I originally thought they had on this movie. The movie had beautiful cinematography of Lavoe in Puerto Rico, along with excellent concert scenes full of thousands of live extras. The film also included numerous scenes of heavy drug use which I think gave the movie a true sense of gravitas. A scene in which Lavoe is lit up in ?La Perla? is pure grit.

In addition, the flow of the movie was appropriate. I did not see the movie stall or mindlessly drift from scene to scene. It was entertaining and kept you interested, with good doses of humor, drama, and music especially. Some criticize Puchi?s (JLO) prominence in the narrative, but her storytelling I think trumps anything the director could have conjured up by putting Lavoe?s children or other relatives. From a dramatic point of view, it was a good idea to begin the movie with Puchi first commenting on Hector?s fall and then starting us from the beginning and leading us through a progressive degeneration of the man. This configuration made more dramatic sense to me, and evidently kept my fellow audience members glued in.

Lastly, the depiction of Hector Lavoe was fair. You get the whole article with this movie, sharing his pains as well as his glories. The man was an addict and died because of it. I see no reason to portray him as the saint some people erroneously consider him to be. Like other good musician bios like Walk the Line (Johny Cash) and Ray (Ray Charles), this movie shows the musical genius behind Hector and the addictions and tragedies that befell the man and shaped his music.