Leonie Mikele

In the Heights is fabulous--I'm going again. The story works incredibly well--and it's fascinating that it does, because there are really two main stories throughout. Also, the lyrics and the book are pure genius, and one appreciates the wit in the movie, because it can be heard. All the slant rhymes, the wit, the verbiage. I miss the presence of Nina's mother, though, have to admit I do. Tying the whole thing together with the children at the beginning and end is beautiful. I just finished reading Carmen Bernier-Grand's "Under the Nispero Tree," and although it's CYA, it deals with class within the PR community in an extraordinary way. So, apropos of her piece, the only thing I might liked to have seen would have been awareness of class even within the "Latinx" community. I'm not criticizing the movie in any way--I love it, truly do. I lived in Manhattan in the late seventies, and the communities that populated New York at that time (was it the infamous 1977 blackout?) were multi-lingual and multi-cultural, and it seems as though the movie really is true to social history. I could be mistaken, though, because I was downtown, not "In the Heights." And the question that has been asked about "colorism" is an important one.

Steve McQeen is a real method actor--really, really good work.