TV Obsessive
In The Heights Comes to Home Media
Don: Hitting home media store shelves this week on August 31st was Jon M. Chu’s musical film adaptation of In the Heights. From the my seat as a new release film critic here at 25YL, I ranked this rapturous film as the #1 best movie of the first half of 2021 with no reservation at the time. My sky high praise of In the Heights continues to grow even with the summer season coming to a close.
When it debuted on Broadway in 2008 after three years of warmup growth, Lin-Manuel Miranda had something very special. Not only did he craft an energetic spectacle of talent, but he succeeded to stump for overdue representation. That stage success has now echoed to the silver screen with a sumptuous treatment.
In the Heights assembles a tight-knit collection of blue-collar immigrants and descendants occupying the diverse Washington Heights neighborhood of far-north Manhattan in New York City. A Star is Born’s Anthony Ramos and Corey Hawkins of Straight Outta Compton are joined by the breakout talents of Leslie Grace and Melissa Barrera, veterans presences Jimmy Smits and Daphne Rubin-Vega, and original Broadway cast member Olga Merediz. Big music and little dreams slam together with punch and bravado for one of most spirited musical films of recent memory. As I said in May, the empathy level is exhilarating and off the charts.
The film is available on 4K, Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download formats. From a presentations standpoint, the Warner Bros. disc is not flashy. I don’t know what has cheapened or changed over the years, but physical media entries used to be a home for, at the very least, creative and animated welcome screens and menus, even going back to original DVD. Now, the mass production has whittled it all down to plain navigation bars of zero style or finery.
Unfortunately, the perks and special features are scant too. Obviously, the musical aspects are its leading draw. The In the Heights discs have two sing-a-long selections, one for the “In the Heights” title song and another for “96,000.” The disc also has a second scene selection variation with the ability to jump directly to any labeled musical number in the entire movie. That’s quick and simple, but hardly must-have.
The greatest, and only, substantial treat of the In the Heights disc release is the 45-minute production backstory feature entitled “Paciencia y Fe: Making In the Heights.” Lin-Manual Miranda, Jon M. Chu, and original author Quiara Alegría Hudes are front and center. From the three of them chronicling the film’s journey from inception and the stage to the realized movie setting, the passion of the passionate importance really comes out. To them, this was making an opportunity for themselves that didn’t exist or wasn’t granted to their demographics.
Miranda’s goal was both necessity and making something for everyone to relate to, regardless of makeup or background. “Pacience y Fe” highlights the creative collaborations that blossomed from the first table read onward. Many members of the cast offered their personal experiences with the musical and the massive preparations they made to sing, dance, and act their way through Chu’s film. As the semi-outsider, Chu’s takes were fascinating because he came to In the Heights as a fan and applied his kinetic expertise to match the desire to set and film this in the actual Washington Heights as much as possible.
While it’s not deep or matched elsewhere with a moment-to-moment directors or writers commentary (how great would that have been?), this little diary sells the conviction and connection of all involved that turned this movie into a passion project more than a moneymaker. This wonderful movie deserved to make more money though.
Winning spirit on this level and splashed as impressively vibrant as this should have been the kind of big screen experience to grab the masses and squash some pandemic malasse. However, like other Warner Bros. films this year, the HBO Max day-and-date release strategy really took a bite out of the box office potential. I, for one, hope that new audiences find a way to get this one into their homes.
Those are our recommendations this week! What are yours? Let us know in the comments!
