by Michael Gavino
Hollywood loves stories of the tortured artist. From the dawn of cinema this format has provided some of Hollywood’s best movies. Recently, a spate of musician-inspired films has graced the screen with spectacular results. The award-winning Ray and the critically inspired La Vie En Rose have beautifully captured the flawed musician struggling with their tremendous talent. Add El Cantante to this august list. With the flawed but incredibly talented musician Hector Lavoe at it’s heart, El Cantante takes the audience on a wonderful emotional roller coaster ride with a pulsating Salsa beat.
The movie starts with a young Hector Lavoe (Mark Anthony) as an aimless young man leaving his native Puerto Rico for the dream of America. Through the intersection of luck and happenstance, Hector lands in New York and becomes the lead singer of the Willie Colon’s band – a prominent Salsa band. At the same time, The Puerto Rico Pride Movement starts to take off in New York and spreads to other cities. Serendipity smiles on Hector as the Pride movement claims Salsa music as their own.
All of a sudden musicians like Hector achieve superstardom. Flushed with cash but emotionally immature, Hector wallows in the Latino version of the evil trinity – Sex, Drugs, and Salsa music. The one constant through Hector’s self destruction, his flawed wife Puchi (Jennifer Lopez) who proves the adage "Love in not enough." Sometimes encouraging but often enabling, Puchi stands by Hector as he slides into self-destruction. Sadly, Hector’s fame lets him escape responsibility until it is too late. For example after Hector’s bad behavior gets him kicked out of Willie Colon’s band, his magnificent voice makes him a huge solo sensation leading to even more fame further fueling his self destruction. This film demonstrates the fleeting nature of happiness. Even when some people have everything they could ever want, they manage to live sad, lonely lives.
Mark Anthony is perfectly cast as Hector Lavoe. The physical resemblance between Anthony and Lavoe is eerie. Give him fifteen pounds; Anthony could be Lavoe’s twin. More importantly, Anthony captures the spirit of Lavoe. Playing Lavoe as a hapless innocent swallowed whole by fame, Anthony mesmerizes the audience. Jennifer Lopez wonderfully compliments Anthony as the tough street-smart New Rican Puchi. The real life chemistry between Anthony and Lopez spills onto the screen much to the delight of the audience. Although the acting is great, the great Salsa steals the show. In fact, the whole movie is shot in a musical style. Even in the quiet moments, there is movement. Great Salsa songs and performances pepper the movie. With powerful themes, strong acting, and great Salsa, El Cantante is definitely a movie worth seeing.
