IN THE HEIGHTS [2021] [Blu-ray] [UK Release] A Pure Feast Of Feel-Good Vibes! Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Delightfully Divine Love Letter!
The creator of “Hamilton” and the director of “Crazy Rich Asians” invite you to a cinematic event, where the streets are made of music and little dreams become big. Lights up on Washington Heights. The scent of a cafecito caliente hangs in the air just outside of the 181st Street subway stop, where a kaleidoscope of dreams rallies this vibrant and tightknit community. At the intersection of it all is the likeable, magnetic bodega owner Usnavi [Anthony Ramos], who saves every penny from his daily grind as he hopes, imagines and sings about a better life. ‘IN THE HEIGHTS’ fuses Linâ€Manuel Miranda’s kinetic music and lyrics with director Jon M. Chu’s lively and authentic eye for storytelling to capture a world very much of its place, but universal in its experience.
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 2021 Hollywood Critics Association: Win: Midseason Award for Best Actor for Anthony Ramos. Win: Midseason Award for Best Picture. Win: Midseason Award for Best Filmmaker for Jon M. Chu. Nominated: Midseason Award for Best Actress for Melissa Barrera. Nominated: Midseason Award for Best Supporting Actress for Leslie Grace. Nominated: Midseason Award for Best Supporting Actress for Olga Merediz. Nominated: Midseason Award for Best Supporting Actor for Corey Hawkins. Nominated: Midseason Award for Best Supporting Actor for Jimmy Smits. Nominated: Midseason Award for Best Screenplay for Quiara Alegría Hudes.
FILM FACT No.2: Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the earliest draft of “In the Heights” in 1999 during his sophomore year of college. After the show was accepted by Wesleyan University's student theater company Second Stage, Miranda added "freestyle rap ... bodegas, and salsa numbers." It played from the 27th of April to the 29th of April, 2000, as an 80 minute, one-act show that reportedly sounded like “A hip-hop version of Rent.” After seeing the play, two Wesleyan seniors and two alumni, John Buffalo Mailer, Neil Patrick Stewart, Anthony Veneziale and Thomas Kail, approached Miranda and asked if the play could be expanded with a view to a Broadway production. Lin-Manuel Miranda started working with director Jon M. Chu in 2002 and wrote five separate drafts of In the Heights. Book writer Quiara Alegría Hudes joined the team in 2004. The vocal performances in the film are a mix of the actors singing live on-set, pre-recorded audio, and re-recorded in the studio during post-production. The production team's choice to use one or the others depended on the environment of the scene and tone of the song. Melissa Barrera and Anthony Ramos’s duet with the song "Champagne," which was done in one continuous shot, and was recorded entirely on-set. Filming began on the 3rd of June, 2019, in New York City. The bulk of filming was done at the intersection of 175th Street and Audubon Avenue, where STO Domingo Grocery Inc. was used as the exterior of the bodega. The film is dedicated to the memory of Doreen Montalvo, a member of the original Broadway cast who appears in the film as one of the singers during "Breathe" and reprises her role as the Bolero singer performing "Siempre." Doreen Montalvo died in October 2020, after the film's postponed release date.
Cast: Anthony Ramos, Melissa Barrera, Leslie Grace, Corey Hawkins, Olga Merediz, Jimmy Smits, Gregory Diaz IV, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Stephanie Beatriz, Dascha Polanco, Noah Catala, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mateo Gómez, Marc Anthony, Patrick Page, Olivia Perez, Analia Gomez, Dean Scott Vazquez, Mason Vazquez, Delila Ramos, James Leyva, Chris Jackson, Susan Pourfar, María Hinojosa, Ryan Woodle, Doreen Montalvo, Ilia Jessica Castro, Yesy Garcia, Jonathan Arana, Jennifer Hernandez, Amp Ngernrungruangroj, Bairam Rizai, Lavinia Jones Wright, Alexandra Campos, Rhapsody James, Ariana Saintclaire Gomez, Ariana Greenblatt, Hugh M Jones III, Daniel Alatorre (uncredited), Ethan Barker (uncredited), Shawn Black (uncredited), Andre Da Silva (uncredited), Alexandra Lopez Galan (uncredited), Courtney Gonzalez (uncredited), Ken Holmes (uncredited), Kimo Kepano (uncredited), The Kid Mero (uncredited), Tess Kondratiev (uncredited), Mark Lehneman (uncredited), Valéry Lessard (uncredited), Johanna Lugo (uncredited), Eddy Mejia (uncredited), Luis Miranda (uncredited), Tiffany Mulan (uncredited), Berenice Odriozola (uncredited), Marcus Pena (uncredited), David Valentino Penaga (uncredited), Alex Perez (uncredited), Jenna Perez (uncredited), Annie Pisapia (uncredited), Daniela Reina (uncredited), Henardo Rodriguez (uncredited), Rosemary Severino (uncredited), Francisco Solorzano (uncredited), Seth Stewart (uncredited), Dillon John Swanson (uncredited), Luz Towns-Miranda (uncredited), Christina Uniqe Castellanos (uncredited) and Ashley Kristeen Vega (uncredited)
Director: Jon M. Chu
Producers: Anthony Bregman p.g.a., David Nicksay, Gregory Zuk, Jeffrey Seller, Jill Furman, Joseph P. Reidy, Kevin McCollum, Kevin McCormick, Lin-Manuel Miranda p.g.a., Mara Jacobs, Quiara Alegría Hudes, and Scott Sanders p.g.a.
Screenplay: Quiara Alegría Hudes (screenplay), Lin-Manuel Miranda (Based on the Musical Stage Play Music and Lyrics as well as the concept) and Quiara Alegría Hudes (based on the musical stage play and the book)
Composers: Alex Lacamoire (score), Bill Sherman (score) and Lin-Manuel Miranda (score)
Costume Designer: Mitchell Travers
Cinematography: Alice Brooks, A.S.C. (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 (CinemaScope)
Audio: English: Dolby ATMOS [7.1 Dolby TrueHD]
English: 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
English: 5.1 Descriptive Audio [USA]
English: 5.1 Descriptive Audio [UK]
French: 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
German: 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
German: 5.1 Descriptive Audio
Italian: 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
Spanish [Castellano]: 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
Spanish [Latin]: 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
Português: 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English SDH, French, German SDH, Italian, Spanish [Castellano], Spanish [Latin], Português, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish
Running Time: 142 minutes
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures / Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘IN THE HEIGHTS’ [2021] tells the powerful tale of the dreams, struggle and family within the tight knit community of Washington Heights as seen primarily through the eyes of friendly bodega owner Usnavi [Anthony Ramos]. As Usnavi must struggle with his decision of whether he should stay in the town he resides and loves or makes a move to try and rekindle some of his heritage by purchasing an old family property, so he joins his neighbourhood in trying to escape the sun while a heatwave rages and a town-wide blackout looms. But before everything goes dark and comes back on, Usnavi and many others will find their lives and paths changed courtesy of some unexpected love, friendship, fun and even heartbreak.
Vanessa [Melissa Barrera] is a nail salon worker who wants to escape her community and become a fashion designer in downtown Manhattan. Nina Rosario [Leslie Grace] is the neighbourhood’s pride and joy, an exceptional student who can’t bear to admit that she wants to drop out of her prestigious university. Meanwhile Benny [Corey Hawkins], who is Black and non-Latina, pines over Nina and otherwise spends his time demonstrating his good work ethic. These individual stories are interwoven as the captions count down the days until a widespread power outage that throws everyone’s goals into question.
Directed by Jon M. Chu from a screenplay by Quiara Alegría Hudes, and based on the musical stage play, music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, book by Quiara Alegría Hudes and a concept by Miranda respectively. Jon M. Chu does a wonderful job at the helm of ‘IN THE HEIGHTS’ guiding the film adaptation along with ample amounts of beauty, style and heart. The film also owes a great deal of credit to the well selected cast which includes Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace (singer/songwriter), Melissa Barrera, Jimmy Smits, Olga Merediz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Gregory Diaz IV, Stephanie Beatriz, Dascha Polanco and more, with nearly all providing notable, if not at least solid performances in each of their respective roles.
Its characters speak in “Spanglish,” but their dialogue reads like a shoe-horned-in reminder of their foreignness rather than a natural, flowing dialect: nail salon ladies deliver speeches about the resilience of their “people” who’ve lived through slavery, disease, colonisation and authoritarianism; we get a list of important woman typically honoured during Hispanic Heritage month listed out in a charming rhyme; and in one particularly bizarre aside, Uznavi’s teenage cousin invites Nina Rosario to a protest: “They’re talking about kicking out the dreamers!”
‘IN THE HEIGHTS’ is a moving and high energy serving of beauty, heart and music that warmly shines with its breath-taking cinematography, endearing original songs and a passionate tale of community and family with nary a dull or unrewarding moment throughout. An emotionally touching and visually spectacular musical tale that doesn’t shy away from the rougher aspects that accompany the good, but always goes out of its way to heighten the positive in the best imaginable way, and often with fitting songs that shouldn’t have any trouble repeatedly slapping a smile on the face of fans as well as newcomers to the story.
In contrast, the best number, a magic-tinged subway ballad performed by Olga Merediz’s Abuela Claudia, finds a sense of stillness in the peaceful, patient shuffle of the aging woman. The film also squanders its relatively large reported budget of $55 million by making its vibrant set pieces – its pastel-tinted nail salon, its Busby Berkeley-esque community pool – look much smaller and more cramped than they should.
It’s a film that probably could have been incredibly different in other hands, but thanks in large part to the magical combination of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s unforgettable stage play and its original music, the passionate guidance of director Jon M. Chu and of course a dazzling cast led by Anthony Ramos, ‘IN THE HEIGHTS’ quickly excels to something quite special that’s liable to touch the hearts of viewers everywhere. I would wholeheartedly encourage everyone who hasn’t yet had a chance to check out ‘IN THE HEIGHTS’ to try and go out of your way to do so whenever possible. It’s a magnificent and moving tale of love and community that’s definitely well worth taking time to give a shot and one that many of you will also surely want to make certain gets added to your collection and you will not be disappointed with this totally amazing spectacular musical picture.
Please Note: Watch right to the finish of the end credits as there is a very nice visual humorous bonus to the film.
IN THE HEIGHTS MUSIC TRACK LIST
IN THE HEIGHTS (Produced by Alex Lacamoire, Bill Sherman, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mike Elizondo and Sergio George) [Performed by Anthony Ramos, Jimmy Smits, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Stephanie Beatriz, Dascha Polanco, Corey Hawkins, Gregory Diaz IV, Melissa Barrera and Olga Merediz]
TAKE THE ‘A’ TRAIN [Written by Billy Strayhorn]
BENNY’S DISPATCH (Produced by Alex Lacamoire, Bill Sherman, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Trooko) [Performed by Corey Hawkins and Leslie Grace]
EL ALMANAQUE (Written by Julio Rodríguez Reyes) [Performed by Los Tres Reyes]
BREATHE (Produced by Alex Lacamoire, Bill Sherman and Lin-Manuel Miranda) [Performed by Leslie Grace and Features Vocal by Rubén Blades]
DALE ZUMBA (Written by Chucky73 aka Adel Reyes Mejia and Darling Hernandez) [Performed by Chucky73]
YOU’LL BE BACK (Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda) [Performed by Smooth Jazz All Stars]
NO ME DIGA (Produced by Alex Lacamoire, Bill Sherman, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Sergio George) [Performed by Daphne Rubin-Vega, Stephanie Beatriz, Dascha Polanco, Leslie Grace and Melissa Barrera]
IT WON’T BE LONG NOW (Produced by Alex Lacamoire, Bill Sherman, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Sergio George) [Performed by Melissa Barrera, Anthony Ramos and Gregory Diaz IV]
CUANDO LLEGA el TREN (Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman) [Performed by Flaco Navaja]
96,000 (Produced by Alex Lacamoire, Bill Sherman, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Mike Elizondo) [Performed by Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Gregory Diaz IV, Noah Catala, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Stephanie Beatriz, Dascha Polanco and Melissa Barrera]
PIRAGUA (Produced by Alex Lacamoire, Bill Sherman and Lin-Manuel Miranda) [Performed by Lin-Manuel Miranda]
ALWAYS (Written by Alex Lacamoire, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Bill Sherman) [Performed by Mandy Gonzalez]
WHEN YOU’RE HOME (Produced by Alex Lacamoire, Bill Sherman, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Adam Blackstone) [Performed by Leslie Grace and Corey Hawkins]
SIEMPRE (Produced by Alex Lacamoire, Bill Sherman and Lin-Manuel Miranda) [Performed by Doreen Montalvo]
THE CLUB (Produced by Alex Lacamoire, Bill Sherman and Lin-Manuel Miranda) [Performed by Anthony Ramos, Melissa Barrera and Corey Hawkins]
BLACKOUT (Produced by Alex Lacamoire, Bill Sherman, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Adam Blackstone) [Performed by Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Melissa Barrera, Leslie Grace, Olga Merediz, Gregory Diaz IV, Noah Catala, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Stephanie Beatriz and Dascha Polanco]
PACIENCIA y FE (Produced by Alex Lacamoire, Bill Sherman, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Sergio George) [Performed by Olga Merediz]
CARNAVAL DEL BARRIO (Produced by Alex Lacamoire, Bill Sherman, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Sergio George) [Performed by Daphne Rubin-Vega, Stephanie Beatriz, Dascha Polanco, Melissa Barrera, Anthony Ramos, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Corey Hawkins, Gregory Diaz IV and Leslie Grace]
ALABANZA (Produced by Alex Lacamoire, Bill Sherman and Lin-Manuel Miranda) [Performed by Anthony Ramos, Leslie Grace, Jimmy Smits, Noah Catala, Melissa Barrera, Corey Hawkins, Gregory Diaz IV, Dascha Polanco, Daphne Rubin-Vega and Stephanie Beatriz]
CHAMPAGNE (Produced by Alex Lacamoire, Bill Sherman and Lin-Manuel Miranda) [Performed by Melissa Barrera and Anthony Ramos]
WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN (Produced by Alex Lacamoire, Bill Sherman, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Adam Blackstone) [Performed by Corey Hawkins and Leslie Grace]
FINALE (Produced by Alex Lacamoire, Bill Sherman, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Adam Blackstone) [Performed by Doreen Montalvo, Anthony Ramos, Stephanie Beatriz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Dascha Polanco, Jimmy Smits, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Grace and Melissa Barrera]
HOME ALL SUMMER (Produced by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Trooko and Mambo Kingz) [Performed by Anthony Ramos and Leslie Grace featuring Marc Anthony]
PIRAGUA (Reprise) (Produced by Alex Lacamoire, Bill Sherman and Lin-Manuel Miranda) [Performed by Lin-Manuel Miranda]
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Blu-ray Image Quality – Warner Bros. Pictures presents the film ‘IN THE HEIGHTS’ that features an amazing 1080p High Definition presentation with the film’s original 2.39:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks fantastic as a whole and provides a sharp, vibrantly coloured and richly detailed presentation from start to finish that’s absent of any unexpected troubles along the way. It holds up beautifully even during the darkly lit moments as well as the fast moving and heavily populated musical numbers, with nothing occurring onscreen ever becoming negatively affected or rendered indiscernible. Overall, this is a wonderful high definition video presentation from Warner Home Video that should easily thrill both first time viewers and their ultimate fans. So all in all, Warner Home Video gets an ultimate five star rating from me.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Warner Bros. Pictures brings us the film ‘IN THE HEIGHTS’ release features a Dolby ATMOS and for people who have not that facility, get to hear the film in the 7.1 Dolby TrueHD compatible soundtrack. Please note that this review pertains solely to the 7.1 Dolby TrueHD audio presentation. This multichannel soundtrack perfectly complements the onscreen fun and offers a clean, smooth and consistently active audio presentation throughout. It constantly takes full advantage of all seven available channels in order to send the unforgettable music, along with bits of crowd chatter, nature elements and plenty more working its way throughout the various speakers at every logical opportunity and always making certain that any dialogue or other audio elements occurring simultaneously remain clean and fully audible. Overall, this is a magnificent Dolby Atmos or Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible soundtrack that more than delivers in every way and contributes plenty of extra fun to the experience. So once again, Warner Home Video gets an ultimate five star rating from me.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: Paciencia y Fe: Making ‘IN THE HEIGHTS’ [2021] [1080p] [2.40:1 / 1.78:1] [43:59] Here you get to view a set of six amazing different featurettes and they include: Paciencia y Fe: When You’re Home; Paciencia y Fe: Hundreds of Stories; Paciencia y Fe: Alza la Bandera/Raise the flag; Paciencia y Fe: Wepa!; Paciencia y Fe: That Music in the Air and Paciencia y Fe: Who Keeps Our Legacies. This bonus feature covers most aspects of pre-production, shooting on location, casting, performing the songs in the studio, becoming one with the characters and more. Every single cast and crew member gets their time to talk about the film, the history of the neighbourhood, their childhood, and the music and choreography. Behind the scenes clips reveal rehearsals, and we get to see Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jon M. Chu talking with the actors, and so much more. This is a fantastic extra that shows how the film was made and what the story and characters mean to everyone in the film. Contributors include: Lin-Manuel Miranda [Creator/Music & Lyrics/Producer], Quiara Alegría Hudes [Screenwriter/Producer], Jon M. Chur [Director], Jimmy Smits [Kevin Rosario], Corey Hawkins [Benny], Olga Merediz [Abuela Claudia], Daphne Rubi-Vega [Daniela], Gregory Diaz IV [Sonny], Anthony Ramos [Usnavi], Dascha Polanco [Cuca], Melisa Barrera [Vanessa], Leslie Grace [Nina], Alice Brooks [Director Photography], Christopher Scott [Choreography], Emilio Dosal [Associate Choreographer], Ebony Williams [Associate Choreographer], Eddie Torres, Jr. [Associate Choreographer], Princess Serrano [Assistant Latin Choreographer], Alex Lacamoire [Executive Music Producer], Steven Gizicki [Music Supervisor] and Bill Sherman [Executive Music Producer]. As usual, you can either play each featurette separately or Play All.
Special Feature: ‘IN THE HEIGHTS’ Sing-Along [2021] [1080p] [2.40:1] [7:44] Here you get to view the actual musical number “In The Heights” in full with the animated subtitles below the image where you get each word sung by the actor highlighted in the yellow colour so that you can sing along like would at a karaoke venue.
Special Feature: 96,000 Sing-Along [2021] [1080p] [2.40:1] [6:06] Here this time you get to view the actual musical number “96,000” in full with the animated subtitles below the image where you get each word sung by the actor highlighted in the yellow colour so that you can sing along like would at a karaoke venue.
Special Feature: Musical Numbers: Here you can access all the musical numbers you see in the film ‘IN THE HEIGHTS,’ but if you want to view your favourite musical number, you have to use the right hand NEXT button on your remote control to look for that specific musical number, as they do not give you a menu list of all the musical numbers.
Finally, ‘IN THE HEIGHTS’ is a glittering and poignant tale of music, life and those dearest to us. It’s a beautiful piece of cinema that never ignores its Broadway style and charm but instead uses the magic of cinema to expand upon it and engulf the viewer in a breath-taking experience that works on almost every level and is truly a joy to behold. ‘IN THE HEIGHTS’ definitely earns one of my highest possible praises for a truly spectacular musical film. It’s one of those rare and a totally moving cinematic experiences that seems to have something for almost everyone and I can’t urge each of you strongly enough to give it a fair chance at some point, because it is well worth purchasing this ultimate Blu-ray release. Very Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
