REVIEW: ‘In the Heights’ Celebrates The Promise Of America

Though he often pays lip service to left-wing politics, Lin-Manuel Miranda can’t help himself — he believes in the promise of America. And his infectious love for the American Dream that came through loud and clear in “Hamilton” — the story of a flawed founder and a flawed nation fighting to live up to their high ideals — is equally evident in his latest musical, “In the Heights” (rated PG-13 for a smattering of language).

The story opens on Usnavi de la Vega (Anthony Ramos), a Dominican immigrant whose name comes from his father’s first sight of the promised land — a U.S. Navy ship. Proprietor of a raggedy bodega, Usnavi is one of several small business heroes in his neighborhood of Washington Heights. The others include the piragua man (Miranda) who valiantly pushes his cart of shaved ice every day, pounding the pavement in a relentless battle with faceless corporatism in the form of the Mister Softee truck. Then there’s Kevin Rosario (Jimmy Smits), who owns a taxicab service and employs Benny, a young would-be business tycoon.

All of them live out lyrics that revel in capitalism as an unequivocal good: “You can’t walk three steps without bumping into someone’s big plans…My parents came with nothing, they got a little more. And sure, we’re poor, but at least we got the store…Until the day we go from poverty to stock options!”

Their lives intersect with industrious women with their own dreams, including Nina Rosario, Kevin’s daughter, object of Benny’s affection, and bearer of her block’s pride for making it into Stanford. One of the film’s most appealing aspects is that it doesn’t treat the ambitions of the other leading lady, Vanessa, a beautiful nail tech, as any less important for being less intellectual.

Though a vastly different setting, as we watch this community love, fight, and pursue happiness in the dark shadow of power outages and the blazing light of summer afternoons, we realize Miranda is performing the same optimistic trick he did with Hamilton. He’s claiming the story of America for a new group of people. At one point, Kevin smiles and explains how the building he owns used to have an Irish name. But the Irish, who arrived earlier, have already built their dreams and moved on to other places.

The theme is all the more effective for the film’s cultural specificity. “In the Heights” doesn’t squeeze in every possible demographic so it can earn a diverse representation badge. This is a story about Dominican and Puerto Rican immigrants, so (novel idea!), the cast is almost wholly Dominican and Puerto Rican. In the details of their lives though, we see our own, whatever they may look like — a beautiful universality the film underlines by paying homage to that classic tale of small town Americana, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” 

Washington Heights may not be Bedford Falls, it may sing different songs and dance different dances, but it’s no less capable of seizing all that liberty has to offer. This is what Usnavi telegraphs when, in a fit of gratitude for his blessings and the nation that has afforded them to him, he cries, “Merry Christmas you old building and loan!”

This is what makes some minor new subplots, not present in the original stage production, so irritating. Now, instead of fretting over paying tuition, Nina worries about fitting in with the (it is implied, white) elite in California. In an overwrought scene, she describes being searched by her Stanford R.A. when her roommates’ pearl necklace goes missing. 

The idea that any university administrator would ask a Latina to dump out her purse without any reason to suspect her, when simply asking a minority student not to eat in a closed lounge results in layoffs and mass diversity training, is laughable. The insertion of a small DACA storyline via Usnavi’s young cousin is equally artless.

But annoying and out-of-place as these political additions (ham-handedly wedged in to no doubt spare Miranda the grief the Left gave him for “Hamilton”) are, they are still minor elements. Overall, Usnavi, Kevin, and Nina, illustrate that the desire to build businesses and chase success unencumbered by the wages of corrupt government is universal. Anyone who claims the ideals of our nation’s founding belong to one privileged group is trying to rob others of hope.

A few dreary, desultory, left-wing insertions can’t overwhelm the shining optimism of “In the Heights’” main theme — there’s no place like our home; there’s no place like America.

The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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