El Cantante
Director: Leon Ichaso. Screenplay: Leon Ichaso, David Darmstaedter, Todd Antony Bello. Cinematography: Claudio Chea. Film editing: David Tedeschi. Production design: Sharon Lomofsky. Music: Andres Levin. Producers: David Maldonado, Jennifer Lopez, Simon Fields Julio Caro. With: Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Christopher Becerra, Federico Castelluccio, Romi Dias, Bernard Hernandez, Vincent Laresca, John Ortiz, Antone Pagan, Manny Perez, Nelson Vasquez. USA. In: English/Spanish. 113 min. 2006.
Pop-music biopics hit the top of the quality charts with amazing regularity, and this account of Puerto Rican singer Hector Lavoe, who launched the salsa juggernaut in the middle 1970s, keeps the tradition intact.
The story doesn’t pack many surprises—it’s the usual rags-to-riches scenario, supercharged with drugs and booze—but Leon Ichaso’s high-voltage visual style, abetted by David Tedeschi’s rapid-fire editing, keeps the action jumping along with few slack moments, surplus scenes, or even pauses for breath. Praise also goes to Marc Anthony’s amiable acting in the title role and to Jennifer Lopez’s hyperactive portrayal of his long-suffering main squeeze.
The picture’s most uproariously false note comes in the closing credits, which congratulates the folks who “dared” to spark the salsa craze, as if Lavoe and company were profiles in courage! But hey, that’s show biz, and you don’t have to care a bit about Latin music to be engaged by the kinetic spectacle on view here. ¡Arriba! – David Sterritt
