With many characters striding toward the camera through the Heights singing about themselves and their dreams, “In the Heights” also has a palpable Walt Whitman vibe.
“IN THE HEIGHTS” Rated PG-13. At AMC Boston Common, AMC South Bay, Regal Fenway, Landmark Kendall Square, Coolidge Corner Theatre, AMC Assembly Row and on HBO Max. Grade: A- A modern-day “West Side Story” minus the Jets, “In the Heights” is a joyous, hip-shaking, rhyming celebration of a similar Manhattan neighborhood, this one nestled beside the Hudson River beneath the George Washington Bridge. It is not only a Latino neighborhood, it is a Latino universe. It is diverse within its diversity. The film’s narrator and leading man is Usnavi de la Vega (multi-talented Anthony Ramos). Usnavi was named by his late father after a Navy boat he spied in New York harbor. Usnavi runs the local bodega, where several characters make their entrances. The film is based on the 2008 Broadway musical nominated for 13 Tonys, winning four, including best musical. The play and film feature music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who was raised near Washington Heights and plays a street vendor in the film, and a book by Quiara Alegria Hudes, who also wrote the screenplay.
