Then Wednesday night, while I’m away for the week in the
town of Nagambie, I drove to the larger town of Shepparton (about 40 minutes
away) to visit their local Village Cinemas and see In the Heights, which
opened last week in Australia, two weeks after its American opening. (If I
weren’t writing the current post, I might have written one about the fact that
my critics card is apparently not accepted at Village Cinemas in the country,
and that country Village doesn’t believe in 25 minutes of trailers and other ads, meaning I missed about the first minute of the film.)
I think Miranda is extremely clever. But I do not think he
is particularly memorable.
I’ll explain.
The very first impression one gets of Miranda’s work is just that: how
clever it is. The flow of his lyrics is masterful, a modern, hip hop-influenced
stream of ingenious rhymes and thought-provoking content. In the moment, the music
sounds quite good too.
The problem is, I cannot remember any of it the moment I’ve
stopped experiencing it.
This first occurred with Hamilton, which I liked a
lot but did not love. It could never have lived up to the enormous hype
accumulated over some five-plus years.
But I had expected, or at least hoped, to be humming the
songs as we made our way home from Sydney’s Lyric Theatre in the Uber that
night. A musical can be unsuccessful dramatically – not a problem for Hamilton
– as long as it connects with you musically.
And Hamilton did, in the moment. I was tapping my
toes and maybe even grooving my shoulders a bit. But with one notable exception
– “My Shot” – I couldn’t actually remember how any of the songs went. I was
sure they’d all sound familiar if I watched the show again, and I’m sure that
will be my experience when we watch the D+ version. But they had not lingered
with me after they stopped hitting my eardrums.
It was the same with In the Heights. Again there is
one exception, the opening song “In the Heights.” But part of me wondered if
this was only because it was about my third time hearing it, since I’d seen the
trailer a couple times before watching the movie.
I had a feeling this might be the case given what my fellow critic on ReelGood, John Roebuck, said about it in his review:
"Musically, In the Heights might be considered a blueprint for Miranda’s later achievement. That he is talented is unquestionable – he’s got reams of the good stuff – and when In the Heights is at its best it erupts in an unbridled expression of happiness that only those unwilling to discard their cynicism will resist. But there is a short attention span to Miranda’s music – a shortcoming he didn’t manage to quite shake in Hamilton – and his attention drifts just as a song is finding its melodical feet. It can make for unsatisfying listening, and instead of whipping Spotify out to blast the soundtrack on my happy jaunt home, I struggled to remember any standouts."
Is this a problem?
Logically, yes. Whatever else it may do right, a musical’s
calling card should be its songs. There should be a couple that are such
indisputable successes, you feel like you’ve known them all your life.
But I really did enjoy both experiences and consider them to
be (qualified) triumphs. I had a great time with both of these vital documents.
Maybe I’m looking at some of my favorite musicals with
rose-colored glasses, and not remembering those experiences as well as I
should. I tend to feel like a good eight of the songs in Jesus Christ
Superstar, my favorite musical, immediately inserted themselves in my
subconscious and never left. But maybe this didn’t actually happen until a
second or third viewing. It was so long ago that I no longer remember.
A recent favorite also makes a poor point of comparison.
Since this is a film blog, let’s talk only about the movie The Last Five
Years and leave aside The Book of Mormon, which may be my favorite
live theatergoing experience of all time. My Last Five Years viewing was
atypical to be sure, as I watched it twice during my 24-hour rental period,
then bought the soundtrack and listened to that at least ten times. I know
those songs quite well likely because of repeat exposure.
I guess the point is, I feel no inclination to buy the
soundtracks for Hamilton and In the Heights because the initial
exposure was not addictive enough. Maybe feeling like I’ll never know the songs
intimately is contributing to my desire not to purchase them.
But I do have a second viewing of Hamilton coming up
on D+. That could be the turning point, I suppose, for that material, if it
really lodges in my brain on the second viewing. And given how much fun I have
with it in the moment, this is certainly possible. And thinking about it, I
realized I actually do remember a second song from that show, King George’s
“You’ll Be Back.” So there’s a chance.
As for In the Heights, I’m not sure I will be
revisiting that material real soon. For about 45 minutes I was in a state of
delirious joy, but the film steadily suffers from pacing issues from then
onward, to the point that the songs started to really seem like filler,
particularly Abuela’s song and the song that takes place in that courtyard
after everyone’s lying around in the heat caused by the blackout. Which itself seemed like a bit of an artificial narrative device. (I did
try to find the names of these songs online, but could not match the titles
with what seemed to be happening in the narrative.)
The movie was strong on singing, acting, dancing and choreography (those last two are not exactly the same),
but not very poignant in terms of its drama, no matter how hard it tried. I
wanted to feel the acuteness of these characters’ angst, but usually, I just
didn’t. (I hope it goes without saying that this is not because I can't relate to the plight of Latinos in Washington Heights. I've related to plenty of cinematic plights that did not match my own.)
Interestingly, I think Miranda’s most successful score that
I’ve experienced is the first I ever experienced: the one for Moana. I actually
don’t love that movie either, but I do feel like I remember more of its songs.
Then again, I’ve also seen that one twice.
I don’t think any of these observations are really an indictment
of Miranda. He’s got an exquisite talent and a distinct voice that the world is
lucky to have. I look forward to any and all future projects, as well as the
past ones I have not yet seen.
I just wish they'd lodge in my brain and take up residence
there, because that’s what I want from them.
Maybe the next one.
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