This messy, maudlin portrait of the decline and decline of Puerto Rico-born salsa star Hector Lavoe wavers uncertainly between cable channel biopic and socially concerned drug movie.
El Cantante
Based on the true story of the King of Salsa, Hector Lavoe
2006 · 1h 56m · R
Drama, History, Music
Directed by
Leon Ichaso
Overview
The rise and fall of salsa singer, Héctor Lavoe (1946-1993), as told from the perspective of his wife Puchi, who looks back from 2002.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
This may be one of the very few biopics in which the subject is marginalized to the point of irrelevance.
El Cantante has to legitimize its subject before it can immortalize him; and in the effort, it makes the mistake of letting a star get in the way of the truth.
I would have liked to have seen a more in-depth look at the salsa movement. Still, we do get a lot of great music, and Anthony is a natural onscreen in a tailor-made role.
Marc Anthony plays the smack-addicted singer, who has some dynamite numbers but not much to say for himself.
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