Description
In their dazzling first on-screen pairing, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony bring to life this riveting tale of romance and redemption based on the true story of salsa legend Hector Lavoe and the woman who kept him from falling over the edge. It’s the 1970s and the salsa revolution is in full swing. Hector Lavoe (Anthony), is the singer, El Cantante whose voice can move millions and whose passion moves one woman, his wife Puchi (Lopez). But when the spotlight brings Lavoe’s … More >>
#1 by jewessjen on August 15, 2010 - 7:40 am
Yeah, no kidding this was produced by Lopez herself. The whole thing is like one extended Jennifer Lopez video.
“Look at me, I’m shaking my booty. Look at my hair, look at me smiling, look at me with my period makeup. Look how sexy I am even snorting coke in my wig! I’m even hot in the ’70′s”
Every scene seemed like an opportunity for Lopez to showcase how gorgous and hot she is…oh, and the director encourages it! In every scene he makes sure to capture Lopez makeup and hair and clothes even if it has no impact whatsoever on the story line. Even if showing her makes no sense. There she is.
This movie was irritating on so many levels. You know that music they play in Mexican Restaurants? Well this whole movie features that kind of white noise. At first it made me hungry for con queso and chips. After that, it just kept reminding me that salsa is really not so great of a musical genre. It all sounds the same and it’s hopelessly trite.
And lastly, Marc Anthony. This man is so bad. Such an ugly little rat faced monkey that it was impossible for me to believe he was any sort of ‘ladies man’ let alone a Latino Rock Star. Are you kidding me? He’d be great as a creepy character actor playing a small role as a janitor or maybe even a pervert of some sort. But to give him 2nd billing in a Jennifer Lopez movie and show him almost as much as Lopez…it made me completely disgusted by this skinny and hideous little man. He’s like Gollum sans the cute.
Just skip this J.Lo show and check out a real ‘poor me, I’m famous’ movie like ‘Walk Hard- The Dewey Cox Story’.
Rating: 1 / 5
#2 by S. Mitchell on August 15, 2010 - 9:46 am
I didn’t know this man/singer and came away from the movie not caring to know him or caring about his life. The movie only showed us drugs and drink. Nothing that would endear us to him in spite of his personal problems.Lopez did a good job. I’ll give here credit for that (she was a co producer of this movie) I wanted to stop in the middle of the DVD but persevered on thinking I was missing something that would be revealed. Nada….buy the sound track. Forget the DVD.
Rating: 1 / 5
#3 by Anonymous on August 15, 2010 - 11:01 am
If I could give this no stars, it would be too much!
There is nothing accurate about this movie other than what has already happened to many artists out there. This movie completly destroys the Hector Lavoe mystic. He is portrayed as a junkie, p-whipped individual under the control of a floozy. The film did no justice to what Hector meant to many in Latin America. Elvis was a heavy drug user too, and we would have not been happy to see an Elvis movie that focused on his habit throughout the duration of his film, which is what the Cantante movie does. For those that do not know Hector, salsa and the Fania explosion of the 70′s and 80′s, this movie only says that latinos were druggies losers.
Hector is a legend, bigger than life! He was our Latino Elvis. He had his demons and tragic moments in his life…he was human. This movie should have focused on the Lavoe career and what he did for the salsa movement. His songs are legendary and his voice inimitable! The movie never explored how Hector came to be, never explored the artistry of Willie Colon and the collaborations they did, their experimentation of music generas and their successes. This is the lamest “drug addict musician” film ever made!
If you dare buy it, then resell it or use it as a coaster, like Gigli. If you are a J-Lo fan, you will be happy to know she took up more film time than Marc Anthony. They should have titled this movie ” Puchie”. As you can see, as of today, 50 used DVD’s are for sale by the vendors and I won’t be surprised to see more. Wait till it comes on bradcast TV, because there is nothing positive to see here.
This movie does no justice to the view Anglo’s have of Latinos; just like the movie Scarface, we are a bunch of junkies!
Thanks for nothing, Leon Ichaso.
Rating: 1 / 5
#4 by Roland E. Zwick on August 15, 2010 - 11:16 am
**1/2
In 1963, Hector Perez was already a promising young singer in his native Puerto Rico when, at the age of seventeen, he moved to New York City to try and make a name for himself as a performer there. In no time flat, he was playing in clubs, had signed a lucrative recording contract with the Latin-flavored Fania Records, and had changed his name to the far more exotic-sounding Hector Lavoe. From the mid-1960s to his death from AIDS in 1993, Lavoe was an international sensation who helped to popularize the musical style known as “Salsa.” But, as with most artists, he lived a life of self-destructive self-indulgence, marked by serial philandering and hardcore drug abuse. He also had a volatile relationship with “Puchi,” the Bronx girl who became his wife and who narrates “El Cantante,” the glossy movie about his life.
Despite the novelty of the milieu and an undeniable sincerity on the part of everyone involved in its production, “El Cantante” remains doggedly conventional, lackluster and superficial in its treatment of the kind of material with which we are all too familiar from previous biopics that have chronicled the rise and fall of artists of all categories and stripes. Marc Antony brings a certain ferocity and depth to his portrayal of the struggling celebrity, but real-life wife Jennifer Lopez is all fluttery overacting as the woman who stood by her man through good times and bad (mostly bad). The music is enjoyable, but I’m afraid we’ve all been down this road so many times before that “El Cantante” fails to stir either our passions or our sympathy for the sadly benighted couple and all that they’re going through. You’d be better off buying the albums instead.
Rating: 2 / 5
#5 by takeManhattan on August 15, 2010 - 11:45 am
Viva LaVoe – Great Movie!!! Lavoe has a unique and great voice. For anyone that loves salsa, this is a must see. Viva La “Puchi” for being a real Puerto Rican woman and having everyone envy and hate u!!!! Picturehouse could have distributed this movie in many areas throughout the country but they didn’t. Marc has the songs on his CD but I actually purchased the real “Lavoe CD’s.” No one has a voice like LaVoe. I wish they would have shown more of St. Cecilias Funeral in Manhattan. Lavoe’s Funeral was a big party in Manhattan. Viva Lavoe & Puchi!!!!!!!!
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Rating: 5 / 5