Movie Review: El Cantante

I never listen to critics, unless of course, you can tell that a movie is bad from the cast and the trailers and even then I'll rent it to see if I was right. Often times though, I have found that the majority of critics are so far off base when they critique a movie, I never listen to them. This, to me, seems to be the case with, "El Cantante".

I can't believe so many critics didn't even get the movie's concept. The movie is told from the perspective of Lavoe's longtime partner and wife, "Puchi". This is the plot synopsis from IMDB.com:

"Salsa great Hector Lavoe is the subject of this biopic starring Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez. Spanning three decades in the Puerto Rican singer's life -- from his 1963 New York arrival to his 1993 death from AIDS -- the film tells Lavoe's (Anthony) story in flashback from the perspective of his Bronx-born wife (Lopez). Chronicling both the good (the music) and the bad (the drugs), the film provides a riveting portrait of a passionate artist."

So you get it from that synopsis right? The movie is loosely based on interviews with "Puchi" about Lavoe and their life together. "Puchi", or Nilda Rosado, was filmed during a series of interviews for the purpose of a documentary in 2002 just before she died in an accident. If people have an issue with the movie because there is, "too much Lopez", then that's on them. If you know going into the movie that the movie is based on interviews with her about their life TOGETHER, then I don't get what the issue is. Usually when one actor overshadows another in a movie, critics don't bash the person doing the overshadowing, as they are to Lopez. She did a better job than Anthony, so they bash her? I don't get it.

As for the movie itself, it starts out with an older looking "Puchi" being interviewed in one of Lavoe's recording studios. She's a tough, at times repentant, woman in her 50's who looks pained and angry at times. At one point she curses out the director for questioning whether or not she wanted Lavoe to change his ways as a partier and drug addict. And, this line may have been meant for the critics, another time yells, "Of course that's my version of the story, do you see anybody else here? I don't." I think we all understand how the movie industry works, most time it doesn't matter how good a movie is, you need some drawing power from your stars. Lopez is that. La India is currently producing her own Lavoe movie called, "The Singer". This movie sounds like it will be the real, fact driven biography that some seem to be asking for, including myself.

I thought Leon Ichaso did a great job depicting the era(s). The 70's felt like the 70's, as did the 80's. One of Ichaso's earlier works was, "Pinero". another sad, destructive story of Latino poet-playwright-actor, Miguel Pinero. After seeing this film, you can tell that he finds flawed, sometimes destructive, life stories more interesting than nice, cookie-cutter stories and he's not the first director to be intrigued by this.

Marc Anthony, known much better as a singer, does a credible job as Lavoe. This is the first film that I have seen where he plays a central role towards the success of a movie and while he doesn't blow you away as Jamie Fox or Joaquin Phoenix did in their roles as singing icons, he didn't embarrass himself. As far as the music for the movie, he sang the vocals himself and blew you away with his renditions of the Lavoe classics. In this regard, I'm a bit biased since I am a Marc Anthony fan (only with his salsa though) and an even bigger fan of Lavoe's. Anthony did a good job portraying Lavoe as a kind of innocent young guy from Puerto Rico whose life spirals down the all too deep pool of sex, drugs, alcohol and fame.

I have two criticisms about Cantante: One, Marc Anthony should have gained a little weight. He's a buck 20. The other criticism is that I think that the director could have done a better job with make-up to show them aging better over the course of the 20 years that the film covers. Although my friend Joe pointed out that maybe that was done on purpose because one of "Puchi's" lines in the movie was that she, "wanted to remember Hector the way I always remembered him". As in young and full of life. I wouldn't consider myself a fan of Lopez', but I can give her props when she deserves it and she does with, "El Cantante".

Go see the film for yourself. Don't go by what the critics are telling you, not even me. In the big picture, we have to go support movie's like this that will tell stories about other stars of color. I won't deny that was one of my motivations for paying to see this film: to support. I hope you do too. Then, let us know what you thought of the movie. Just be prepared, it's not a happy ending, holding hands and walking off into the sunset film. It's real.