Eric D. Snider
El Cantante
Movie Review
"El Cantante"
Review by Eric D. Snider
Grade: C-
Rating: R
Released: Friday, August 3, 2007
Directed by:
Cast:
Familiarity with someone's work is not a prerequisite for enjoying a movie about that person's life. Just last week I saw "La Vie en Rose," a well-made film about French singer Edith Piaf, about whom I knew almost nothing. But what that film does -- and what "El Cantante," about '70s salsa singer Hector Lavoe, fails to do -- is show us why the performer was so beloved. To put it bluntly: Why should I care who Hector Lavoe was? "El Cantante" does nothing to answer that question.
If the film is any indication, Lavoe's life was a cycle of fame, drugs, money, and self-destruction. Since this is more or less the same cycle as has been portrayed in countless other musical biopics, you'll forgive me if my attention is not immediately grabbed.
What I do notice, though, is that this appears to have been a vanity project for Jennifer Lopez and her husband, Marc Anthony. (Hey, appearing onscreen with her lovers has worked so well in the past, so why not try it again?) Anthony plays Lavoe and Lopez plays Puchi, his controlling, enabling, shrewish wife. The jokes practically write themselves, people.
Lavoe was born in Puerto Rico and moved to New York in the mid-'60s, when he was 17. Most of the film is set in the '60s and '70s, as the salsa craze -- Latin music combining elements of mambo, rumba, meringue, and jazz -- is first catching on. Singing for Willie Colon's band, Hector quickly becomes a star, though his unreliability due to his heroin use and general flakiness creates conflict with his bandmates.
Through it all there is Puchi, a lifelong New Yorker with Puerto Rican roots. She's the one who first gives Hector some weed to smoke, an experience so nasty for him that he vows never to try drugs again. Then he sees someone doing heroin, and the film moves to slow-motion while the soundtrack swells with dark, ominous music. Dun-dun-DUNNNNNN!
Puchi and Hector's relationship is stormy, to put it mildly. On their wedding day, he's late to the church because he's recovering from a night of hookers and cocaine in a hotel room. Puchi marches in with a priest in tow and orders them married on the spot. For her part, she loves the wealth and fame and may or may not be cheating on Hector. A couple scenes show them happy; a couple dozen scenes show them screaming at each other.
But never mind the trite melodrama. The film's most glaring deficiency is its utter inability to show us why Hector Lavoe was popular. The performance scenes are plentiful enough, and the music is as spicy and energetic as you'd expect salsa music to be. Yet Hector's singing ability and general stage presence are merely average. So why was he a big deal? Was it because he was one of the first? Or was the real Hector Lavoe far more charismatic than Marc Anthony is playing him?
I think the latter might be the case. Anthony is a pop star, but he's not exactly a charmer, nor is he exactly an actor. As Hector, he comes across as grim, sullen, and uninteresting. The fact that his deep-set eyes and pale, wasted face make him look like a zombie anyway does not help.
As for Lopez, though her diva-like attitude is well-documented in real life, in the movies she has usually come across as supremely likable and sweet, even when (as was often the case) her movies weren't any good. Here, finally, she acts approximately like herself: cold, braying, and materialistic -- a perfect match for the equally abrasive Hector.
The director is Leon Ichaso, whose last film, "Piñero," was about another tortured Puerto Rican artist whose name is unfamiliar to the vast majority of Americans. Ichaso is fond of creamy, soft-focus photography, random uses of black-and-white, and stream-of-conscious editing. It worked a little better for "Piñero," where the subject was a free-form poet whose work lent itself to a looser filmic representation. Lavoe's life begs for a more straightforward approach, and Ichaso's tomfoolery just feels exhausting, an attempt to infuse life into a moribund story.
Grade: C-
Rated R, abundant harsh profanity, some strong sexuality, a lot of drug use
1 hr., 56 min.
Copyright © Eric D. Snider.
This work may not be transmitted via the Internet, nor reproduced in any other way, without written consent from Eric D. Snider.
This item has 36 comments
August 3, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Why should you care who Hector Lavoe was? I will attempt to give you an answer... The reason you should care to learn about Mr. Lavoe's life is the same reason why we should learn about Oskar Schiendler. Oscar Schiendler was a great man who saved thousands of jews from the Nazis. A jewish man named Steven Spielberg brought his life to the silver screen. Mr.Spielberg in his movie, educated us about the life of Schiendler,and he also capitalized from this movie. Perhaps, the Anglo and Jewish world had heard about Oskar Schiendler, but the Latino World was unaware of who he was. Now, Jennifer Lopez is giving the world an opprtunity to learn about the life of a great salsa singer. In her film, Mrs. Lopez is attempting to educate the anglo world about the Master of the salsa music. I feel that through music we educate the masses, just like Beetoven, Bach and Mozart did. Be open to a new experience, so you and the rest of the world can learn something. The same way that I truly respect the jewish people and their religion and culture. This is the way you should respect Jennifer's effort, her music, culture and her people. Hector Lavoe's music educates us because each of his song has meaning and tells us a story about life.
August 4, 2007 at 12:46 am
Eddie, while I don't doubt your sincerity, I think the point Eric was trying to make is that the movie doesn't show any of what you mentioned. "Schindler's List" painted an accurate portrait of its subject, and showed us who Oskar Schindler really was. This movie doesn't do that fo Hector Lavoe (at least according to Eric--I haven't seen it yet.)
August 4, 2007 at 1:05 pm
Uh, yeah, because a guy who risked his life to save people from genocide, and a guy who sang some songs and threw his life away on drugs are exactly the same. Good point.
I'm hispanic, and even I don't give a rats ass about this arrogant drug addict. Being able to sing is not a free pass to being a complete waste of oxygen in every other respect.
August 4, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Slash,and what is your point? I understand that you don't care about Hector Lavoe, and I respect that, but other people loved him and his music. If he threw his life away that was his business., John Belushi, Elvis and River Phoenix threw their lives away with drugs, but they were very talented. I disagree with your response.
August 4, 2007 at 3:13 pm
I don't think that Eddie read past the first paragraph.
August 4, 2007 at 6:31 pm
Bach, Mozart and Beethoven's music wasn't written or intended to "educate the masses." They all wrote for highly specific audiences--usually aristocratic patrons that were the source of their livelihood. I understand the point you're trying to make, but those composers don't fit your argument. Just because most everyone in the Western world has heard of their music now, does not mean that was the case when they were actually composing.
Ah, I finally got to use something I learned in Music History. Happiness.
August 4, 2007 at 10:25 pm
Thanks, Eddie, for sharing your sixth-grade essay about Hector LaVoe. I give it a C-, just like the movie!
August 4, 2007 at 11:45 pm
"John Belushi, Elvis and River Phoenix threw their lives away with drugs, but they were very talented. I disagree with your response."
None of whom I would equate with Schindler. Talent is not an excuse for being a personal trainwreck. And being talented is not enough to make a movie about you interesting.
August 5, 2007 at 4:31 am
Hey Eddie, I'm a big fan of Hector Lavoe, and I grew up in the 90's. I had high hopes for the film, but that's all it was. High hopes. They had a chance of doing the man justice and they failed. Initially they planned on having Marc Anthony lip sing to Hector's music, but of course, Marc Anthony disagreed on that and insisted on singing Hector's songs himself. Right then and there, I knew the movie was gonna be bad. Don't get me wrong, Marc Anthony could sing, but Hector was called "La Voz" for a reason, and Marc Anthony's salsa don't even measure up to the knees of Oldschool Salsa.
August 5, 2007 at 7:23 pm
To the author:
If you want to actually find out about Hector Lavore (which I doubt you do) I suggest you not rely on Hollywood and buy some salsa dvd's and watch Hector in concert, try the Fania All Stars Live in Africa. And then I suggest you learn Spanish so you can actually grasp the content of his songs. But I'm pretty sure you're not a salsa fan- so yeah, why should YOU care who Hector Lavoe is???
August 5, 2007 at 9:52 pm
That's two, TWO people that entirely missed the point of the review, ah ah ah!
August 6, 2007 at 8:23 am
Why should anyone care who Hector Lavoe is ? Same reason people should care who Johnny Cash, Bob Marley, Tina Turner, Ray Charles, etc. As a latino living in Texas, i did not know anything about Johnny Cash or Ray Charles but now I do because of the movies that were based on their careers. Many people do not know or care who Hector Lavoe is, the same way alot of people do not care who Ray Charles is or Johnny Cash or Elvis Presley or Ozzy Osbourse, Frank Sinatra, etc.
It's good when we get to know other artists that contributed to the music world and not be closed to opening our eyes.
August 6, 2007 at 9:35 am
Good or bad, doesn't really matter to me. I'm not really interested in seeing it anyway. I just thought it was interesting that when I went to our local 20 theater movie plex this weekend to see another film, that the place was packed with huge lines just to get a movie ticket. I have never seen it so crowded.
I was thinking that there may have been a huge rush to see The Bourne Ultimatum, due to the many great reviews I have been reading about it. Suprised me to see the huge lines were for this movie instead. The crowds were so big that they actually had local police cruising the parking lot and walking about inside the complex. First time I've see that as well.
August 6, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Here's the big question to all those arguing for the usefulness of this biopic: Did the biopic itself show the rest of the world why they should care about Hector Lavoe? If not, then not only is it a bad movie, but has done a disservice to a highly talented performer. If you did not already know who Lavoe was and cared about him, would the movie have made you do so?
August 6, 2007 at 5:04 pm
That's three, THREE people that entirely missed the point of the review, ah ah ah!
August 6, 2007 at 8:24 pm
First of all, let me point out that Marc Anthony should be playing the role of the Geico gecko in the next commercial! He looks much more like the gecko than Hector LaVoe. I am a die-hard LaVoe fan and he is my idol, and YES, I am attracted to personalities that are self-destructive, that is what makes them legends. If they weren't self-destructive, we wouldn't be making movies about them. The problem is that Marc Anthony was NOT the proper person to play the role. I remember back in 2002 when this movie was in talks that Marc Anthony lashed out that he did not want to be compared to a "drug-addict singer" and that infuriated me. Who the hell does this bastard think he is talking that way about my idol? Then, Jennifer "J-Low Class" Lopez decides she wants to produce this movie and convinces Marc Anthony to play the role and marries the SOB! Sounds dirty, doesn't it? This project was a botched attempt whic has disgraced a great Latin singer, a true hero, the first and ONLY martyr of Salsa who deserves better treatment and recognition for all the years he delighted us with his songs. I have each and every vinly KP that he recorded with Willie Colon and by himself and I listen to them every chance I get because THIS is my "herencia" and this is what I am proud of. Descansa en paz, hermano Hector, esperame en el cielo que pa'lla voy! Peace and love, man!
August 7, 2007 at 1:39 am
Uhhhh were we watching the same movie here? Because I saw El Cantante and it was amazing!! Great acting by Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez. They couldn't have picked a better person to play Hector Lavoe because Marc Anthony looks just like him! He sings just like him too! They are both amazing singers. The movie was well made and I would go and watch it again. Everytime Marc Anthony would sing, I felt like getting up and dancing! I truly believe it was a well made movie. All you people criticizing the movie are probably gringos who don't even know who Hector Lavoe is!! How can you criticize a movie about someone that you've never even heard of!? You probably don't even know what salsa is (and no its not a sauce for your chips) and you for sure cannot dance to it! Trust me I'm Puerto Rican and I KNOW that that movie was awesome!
August 7, 2007 at 2:51 am
i saw the movie "el cantante" and it was great. thanks to j-lo and mark. i am very proud of you. i met hector in new york . we did alot of partying together. and despite his bad habit, he was a great man.
August 7, 2007 at 9:04 am
The film was a good portrail of Hector Lavoe and a true tail of a musical legends downward spiral through life. However, it seems that unless the movie is about a white musician played by a white actor the critics will always give these bad reviews. On the other hand, if it were a movie about an african american musician it would get great reviews becasue, you dont want to get them angry. Its unfortunate that the first major film that was released by two great puerto rican actors by a subcompany of newline and was in limited release would be bashed by the critics. I mean people lets face the facts how dare a puerto rican actor and actress play puerto ricans on the screen with so many italian actors awaiting a role in hollywood. The point of the film was to portray the man that Mark Anthony and Jlo owe their careers to. Last word for the latino communities stick together and support one another or accept second class citizenship.
August 7, 2007 at 11:38 am
If you follow Eric's reviews, you'll probably notice quickly that he doesn't pander to anyone. He either likes the movie or he doesn't. It's a review of a movie and an opinion.
I think it's wrong to start throwing the race card around because of a movie review. If you liked the movie fine, if you didn't fine, but don't start blaming bad reviews on racism.
August 7, 2007 at 12:50 pm
"This project was a botched attempt whic has disgraced a great Latin singer, a true hero, the first and ONLY martyr of Salsa who deserves better treatment and recognition for all the years he delighted us with his songs."
You're not a martyr if you kill yourself. Just FYI.
August 7, 2007 at 9:43 pm
You're not a martyr if you kill yourself. Just FYI.
Well, yeah, and I don't know how you can be a martyr for a style of music. I mean, unless they were hunting down and executing Salsa singers in Puerto Rico then that statement wasn't going to make sense regardless.
August 9, 2007 at 9:29 am
I'm now picturing secret police in Puerto Rico breaking into people's houses looking for illicit salsa paraphernalia. It is making me giggle like a school girl.
August 9, 2007 at 1:21 pm
Pablo reminds me of Uncle Leo on Seinfeld. He accused the chef at Monks of anti-semitism for over-cooking his hamburger.
Simply put, Eric D. Snyder...like everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, with a brown face in it, regardless of merit, or you are a RACIST!
Sadly, pablo, with the kind of logic and reasoning you seem capable of, you could only hope of one day achieving the ranks of second class citizen.
August 9, 2007 at 3:06 pm
It's unfortunate that it took JLo to have to present this film. i couldn't finish watching the film. it was horrible. Hollywood should of never got there hands on his story. i personally feel that it should of been done as a documentary. a good example is Buena Vista Social Club (cuban band). im not sure if you guys know what im talking about but it exposed and displayed the art form honestly. no scripts or big sreen wannabees. too bad. i feel for Hector's family and close friends to have to witness this bad attempt of a biopic of Hector Lavoe. Good luck Marc and JLo
August 10, 2007 at 1:29 pm
I've not yet seen the film and read reviews but am never too swayed by them.
I look forward to seeing Lavoe's story on screen.
This reviewer like anyone else is entitled to their epinion, but I feel I should note regarding:
"Yet Hector's singing ability and general stage presence are merely average."
This of course falls under opinion, but I have to say that Lavoe's singing and stage presence were so unbelievably electric, I daresay it could almost prove be stated as fact. That's how much of a lightining bolt his voice (and stage personality) was. My guess is that the reviewer concluded the opposite based on Marc Anthony's rendition.
His vocal talent was on par with Billie Holiday and Marvin Gaye (particularly in subtelty of horn-like phrasing). In fact, If there were a Marvin Gaye biopic one day it wouldnt surprise me if reviews were near the same (Gaye and Lavoe led very identical paths and both left countless anthems behind for their folk). There would still be the same excitement for me though to see said film regardless.
Whether or not Cantante is good or bad, I still enjoy that more and more people might find Lavoe's music.
August 10, 2007 at 2:18 pm
I believe that the review is refering to the portral of Hector by Marc Anthony. His portral of Hector gives one the impression that the singing and stage presence are merely average, if you don't know who Hector Lavoe is.
This is a fault of the actor. It's like asking Woody Allen to play the part of George S. Patton. If you didn't know who the real like person was, you'd be wondering why men followed him into battle.
August 12, 2007 at 10:12 am
Let he who has not fault in life cast the first stone. Hector loved music and he sang from the heart.
Jennifer and Marc are two great individuals in their own right!
Let’s agree on one thing; life is short and we must love and enjoy every minute of the day.
August 13, 2007 at 4:21 pm
Wow. Just...wow.
Listen up, stupid people: this movie review (or any other, for that matter) is not meant to criticize anyone's race or gender or beliefs. It's meant to provide an opinion and analysis on the artistic merit and value a movie has. If you want to get offended because Eric said that the movie does not give viewers a reason to care much about Hector Lavoe's music, it's not because Hector Lavoe's music isn't good. It's because Marc Anthony did not portray him well and/or the movie was poorly written and/or poorly executed.
I'm torn. Part of me wishes there was a way for Eric to block stupid people from making comments, but the other part of me enjoys reading other people's misplaced anger, ridiculousness, and sheer incompetence. Without stupid people's stupid comments, we wouldn't get such great Snide Remarks.
Also, comparing Hector Lavoe to Oskar Schindler is about as accurate as comparing Ray Charles to Paul Rusesabagina. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Oh, and Slash, you made my day.
August 14, 2007 at 8:12 am
Please, let the man "Rest in Peace". Life for him was bad enough, let's not torment him in death too.
August 23, 2007 at 5:01 pm
Hi AggieGirl: I believe you have some good points in your comments, but you blew it when you used the words " stupid people" more than once in your writing. For your edification, I believe you shouldn't be so redondent because that makes you sound "stupid." LOL
August 29, 2007 at 3:14 am
Hi, Eddie.
I meant to be redundant. But thanks for the misspelled warning.
September 8, 2007 at 10:31 pm
Wow, a lot of people can't read.
The reviewer is not saying that Héctor Lavoe was unremarkable. He's saying that he knew very little about Héctor Lavoe before he saw the movie, and after seeing it, he still knows next to nothing about him. That's not a criticism of Héctor Lavoe; that's a criticism of the movie.
Anyway, Eric: yes, Héctor was extremely charismatic, had a very special, hard to describe voice that just cut through everything else, was a very clever improviser, and was very good good at engaging his audience on stage. Willie Colón's band was also remarkably good, and played with a very aggressive style that fit his voice. That's my best shot at explaining why he was popular. It may be the case that one needs to listen to a lot of different salsa singers to appreciate him; but to be clear, tons of people look up to them as the paradigm of 70's NYC salsa.
September 8, 2007 at 10:51 pm
A comparison. Here's Marc Anthony singing Héctor Lavoe's signature song, "Mi gente". And here's Héctor Lavoe signing it.
Yeah, making Marc Anthony sing Héctor's songs kinda ruins it.
September 8, 2007 at 10:52 pm
Ooops, wrong link for the Marc Anthony version. Here's the correct link.
October 10, 2007 at 7:37 am
i love this movie jenny u did your thing in this movie