El Cantante
Studio: Picturehouse
Rated: R
Cast: Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez
Director: Leon Ichaso
WorkNameSort: El Cantante
Our Rating: 2.50
It’s a shame that most people will want to bring up Jennifer Lopez when they talk about El Cantante, because it’s her husband, Marc Anthony, who’s the real star here. As salsa pioneer Hector Lavoe, Anthony dominates every scene he’s in, a performance that will likely trump anything he’s ever produced as a musician. Unfortunately, the movie suffers from what all musical biopics tend to: clichés. Drug abuse, women, guns, AIDS and, of course, a tumultuous marriage to a woman who seems to do more to destroy the man than save him. As Puchi, Lopez is fiery, over the top and offering up the best performance she’s managed since Out of Sight. That isn’t saying much, though. While El Cantante enjoys a creative non-linear narrative that helps spice things up, it never manages to make clear why Lavoe’s pain and tragedy, his drug addiction, his wife or the death of his son made his music any richer or, by extension, made salsa any more powerful. His relevance is expressed, but never validated.
This article appears in Aug 1-7, 2007.