Combustible Celluloid


New movie reviews, DVD reviews, interviews, and all things film.

 
Home | Archive | About | Cinematical.com | Lists | News | Links | E-mail me | Sign up for my weekly newsletter!  
 



Ajami ***
Green Zone **1/2
Remember Me **1/2
She's Out of My League ***
2009 Oscars
More
 




Blank Generation
The Box
Capitalism: A Love Story
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak
Undead: The Vampire Collection
Up in the Air
The 25 Best DVDs of 2009
More
 

Film Features

2009: The Year's Ten Best Films
The Decade's Ten Best Films: 2000-2009
My 2003 Interview with Brittany Murphy
San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards 2009
Richard Linklater
John Woo
Jared and Jerusha Hess
Essential Halloween Movies
Michael Stuhlbarg
Jane Campion
Bobcat Goldthwait
Hugh Dancy
Kathryn Bigelow
Willem Dafoe: The 2009 CineVegas Interview
David Carradine
A 2002 Interview with Edward Asner
Vinessa Shaw
Henry Selick
2008: The Year's Ten Best Films
The San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards 2008
The 25 Best DVDs of 2008
Bruce Campbell
Darren Aronofsky and Marisa Tomei
Josh Brolin
A Tribute to Paul Newman
Steve Coogan on Hamlet 2
Manny Farber (1917-2008)
Bernie Mac (1957-2008)
Emily Mortimer
Brad Anderson
Don Cheadle at CineVegas
Abel Ferrara at CineVegas
Tina Sinatra
My Top 100 Films [Updated]
My Top 60 Directors [Updated]
The Top 50 Movies of the Past Ten Years (1997-2006)
Terry Zwigoff on the new Bad Santa Director's Cut
Alfonso Cuarón Interview
Guillermo Del Toro Interview
Christmas Movies
Combustible Celluloid's Big Guide to Halloween & Horror Movies
Cult Movies
Actress Interview Gallery
The Top 100
More Features and Interviews
 

Film Books

Not Quite a Memoir: Of Films, Books, the World, by Judy Stone
James Agee: The Library of America Collection, by James Agee
Just Making Movies, by Ronald L. Davis
Guide to Essential Movies, by Joe Leydon
Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood, by Robert S. Birchard
Profoundly Disturbing, by Joe Bob Briggs
A Third Face, by Samuel Fuller
Dark Lover, by Emily Leider
Agee on Film, by James Agee
Lulu in Hollywood, by Louise Brooks
Negative Space, by Manny Farber
5001 Nights at the Movies, by Pauline Kael
More Books
 



Home
Reviews A-C
Reviews D-F
Reviews G-J
Reviews K-M
Reviews N-Q
Reviews R-T
Reviews U-Z
 

The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

 
SEARCH MOVIES / CELEB

Advanced Search

 
© 1997-2009 Combustible Celluloid



El Cantante (2007)

Rating: 2 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Clips and Salsa

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy El Cantante on DVD

Director Leon Ichaso really rips into the first section of this biopic of Puerto Rican-born singer Hector Lavoe, who was at the forefront when salsa music caught on in the United States in the 1970s. He cuts to the rhythm of infectious drums, swaying rhythms and sweaty dancing. Like Ichaso's previous feature, the similar Piñero (2001), El Cantante (or "the singer") looks as if it had been dug up from a 1970s time capsule, full of grainy, ragged sections and using superimposed text and cracked photographs for emphasis; it may be the craziest stuff since Oliver Stone took on The Doors (1991). It's as if, by sheer force of will, the director is trying to burn through the by now overly familiar musical biopic format.

But while Piñero had a kind of narrow, self-absorbed focus, El Cantante eventually succumbs to the typically broad biopic canvas. It hits nothing but highlights; and misses the singer's soul. Lavoe's longtime wife, nicknamed 'Puchi' (Jennifer Lopez), begins by relaying her version of the story on camera, although this potentially focused point of view is quickly abandoned. After the shock flash-forward to a turning point late in Lavoe's career, we flash back to his humble origins, the arrival in the big city, the meeting of the soul mate, the first flushes of fame, the sinister introduction to drugs (this time a door shuts on us in slow motion), the departure of the less talented -- but sober -- bandmate, the breakdown, rehab, the bizarre, quasi-religious rituals that temporarily renew his spirit, jealousy, and finally, HIV.

Lopez's real-life husband Marc Anthony plays Lavoe, and it's a double-edged performance. Anthony has a wonderful singing voice, warm, rich and dramatic, but he's a rather more limited thespian and not skilled enough to project much past Lavoe's trademark dark glasses, worn throughout most of the film. It's when the characters shut up and sing that El Cantante pulses to life, thundering and purring with the joy and sorrow of every beautifully cornball song. The film may not capture the real Lavoe, but it at least understands the passion of a fan.

Starring: Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez, John Ortiz, Manny Perez, Vincent Laresca, Antone Pagan
Written by: Leon Ichaso, David Darmstaedter, Todd Antony Bello
Directed by: Leon Ichaso
MPAA Rating: R for drug use, pervasive language and some sexuality
Language: English, Spansih with English subtitles
Running Time: 106 minutes
Date: August 3, 2007

Home
News
Search Reviews
Classic Movies
DVDs
Features
Film Books
Gallery
Links
About
The Rating System
Email Me
All scribblings © 1997-2010 Combustible Celluloid