El Cantante Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)August 3rd, 2007
EL CANTANTE
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2007 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): *
Before seeing EL CANTANTE, a biopic about a Puerto Rican singer named Hector Lavoe (Marc Anthony), I, probably like most of you, had never even heard of him. And, even after seeing the film, I am at a complete loss to figure out why I should care about him.
All the movie did convincingly was to show how much dope Lavoe smoked, snorted and shot up. If this man, who we are told is an architect of the salsa sound, had a musical gift worth remembering, the film doesn't try very hard to convince us of this. In fact, with its "let's sing a few lines and then cut" form of filmmaking, I still don't know what his music was like. I don't think the filmmakers really cared much either or they would have let more of the songs run without aborting them before they had barely begun.
When we are allowed to see enough of his performances to get some sense of his gift, we get a glimpse of a man who sings his pain, as Johnny Cash did. At least, I think that is what we are supposed to take away from watching Lavoe perform.
But hands-down the most infuriating part of the picture is Claudio Chea's cinematography. Several different filming styles are used from black-and-white for the film's pseudo-documentary part to an old Technicolor appearance for the part set back in the 1960s.
But all of the various looks of the film share one trait -- they are all so hazy that you'll keep trying to clean your glasses in order to be able to see the images. Eventually you'll realize that this glossy, slightly out-of-focus appearance is an intentional choice of the filmmakers. The result is the ugliest and hardest to watch film this year. Plenty of use of fast editing and film overlays also make for a jarring viewing.
Although we may not learn a lot about Lavoe's skills as a singer, the film is convincing about how recklessly he and his wife Puchi (Jennifer Lopez) lived the high life. In a typical scene, Lavoe is AWOL at his own wedding, so Puchi goes to break up Lavoe and his friend's latest dope party so that she can get him to his own wedding before the priest leaves. Once there, the priest cuts the vows short, lest the stoned Lavoe pass out before the ceremony is over.
Lopez, who is an excellent actress who first really showed her skills in SELENA, another biopic about a Spanish-language singer, is wasted in EL CANTANTE. She doesn't even try to do much with her underwritten part.
The film is for dyed-in-the-wool salsa or Lavoe fans only. Others, because of the film's pathetic cinematography, will just feel like they've been through an unbearable eye test with dirty glasses.
EL CANTANTE runs 1:56. The film is in English and in Spanish, sometimes with English subtitles. It is rated R for "drug use, pervasive language and some sexuality" and would be acceptable for older teenagers.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, August 3, 2007. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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