El cantante (2006)

El cantante (2006). 1h 46m | R

“First of all, this film is not as bad as people are saying it is. Jennifer Lopez is good and Mark Anthony is great. The music alone is worth your money. That, however, is where the praise must end.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eUnfortunately, the script seems sloppy. Thereu0026#39;s no structure to the story, and the film fails for it. Moments that should be important seem to occur too quickly to feel because the screenwriter(s) seems to lack a sense of pace.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis could have been helped by a good director. Unfortunately, again, the director was one of the screenwriters, which of course didnu0026#39;t bode well for his sense of pacing. The film is jarringly disconnected and the characters, even Lavoe himself, are far less developed than they should be.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHad a film like u0026quot;Rayu0026quot; never been released, u0026quot;El Cantanteu0026quot; would have met every expectation of the public. Unfortunately for the filmmakers of u0026quot;El Cantanteu0026quot;, u0026quot;Rayu0026quot; provided a structured script that developed the lead as well as the supporters. u0026quot;El Cantanteu0026quot; seems to half-develop Puchi and Lavoe, and give really no more than minimal screen time to any supporting cast.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhich leads to probably the biggest problem of all. This film is told through the eyes of Puchi, Hectoru0026#39;s wife. While this should provide an insight to who Hector was as a person, itu0026#39;s a very slanted account and the average moviegoer can tell that important things have been left out. This isnu0026#39;t like u0026quot;Rayu0026quot;, where Ray Charles himself was giving the story and therefore could tell things how they were. Puchi (and subsequently the film) only seems to mention the other women in Hectoru0026#39;s life in passing, focuses very little on the tours that Hector undoubtedly went on without her, and really doesnu0026#39;t let us into the world of the entertainment business in the 60u0026#39;s and 70u0026#39;s. Some of this, Iu0026#39;m sure, is because Puchi just didnu0026#39;t know about these things. Some of it too, I suspect, is because she didnu0026#39;t want it in the movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis problem would have been rectified if the film was about Puchi with Hector as a supporting character, and if consequently Puchi had been developed to her fullest capabilities. That did not happen.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOne has to wonder if some of the reason for the lack of character development and pacing is because they caught wind of the other Lavoe film u0026quot;The Singeru0026quot; and tried to rush to beat it to the theaters.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn the end, this film is worth the watch. Is it a classic? No. Is it a good time? Absolutely. There may be another, better Lavoe movie released in our lifetimes. Right now, this film is worth it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe Script gets a u0026quot;Du0026quot;. The Director gets a u0026quot;Bu0026quot;, if for no other reason than amazing musical scenes. The Actors get an u0026quot;Au0026quot;.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTherefore, I give the film a solid B+.”