nicee18
I personally think that this movie was extremely good, plain and simple. The film started off wonderful from the get-go with a scene where an older, more reminiscent Puchi is telling her side of the story regarding Hector to a documentary film crew. You can totally get the feel of her character right from the start, and can detect her brash, in-your-face attitude suddenly.The music was absolutely amazing, the acting performances by Jennifer, Marc, and the rest of the supporting cast were amazing also, as well as complex. The directing and cinematography were also very good, and I particularly enjoyed the grainy texture of a lot of the scenes, especially the concert/performing scenes. And I also really liked that the director decided to add subtitles for some of the Spanish dialogue scenes and most of the concert scenes. I felt that by adding the subtitles for the songs that Hector performed really gave non-Spanish speakers a scope into the real meaning of the words, and more importantly, the songs themselves. Again, the music was remarkable! Jennifer's performance was absolutely amazing! I don't care what anyone says, she seemed to completely immerse herself in her character and tapped into all of her expansive acting range and emotion. She played the role of Puchi with much confidence and when needed, much vulnerability. I've heard some people commenting on Jennifer's accent, and how it was over done and what not, but keep in mind people, that was how Puchi really spoke! If anyone has had time to check out the DVD commentary by the two original writers of the screenplay: David Darmstaedter and Todd Bello, one would know that they were the ones who actually interviewed and recorded Puchi while she was in a hospital in New York before she died in 2002. They said that Jennifer used their tapes as well as other research she had done for the basis to prepare for the role of Puchi. They said she thoroughly listened to the tapes in order to get everything, down to the tone of her voice right. It was very insightful.Marc, who obviously played the title character of Hector Lavoe, was also excellent in his role. He was very instinctive and laid-back with his acting approach, but it worked wonders. The singing/concert scenes just seemed to validate even more, his superb talents as a singer in his own right. He seemed to really embody the essence of Hector Lavoe, in my opinion, and it was great to see on screen. Many have said that with Marc's great, but understated performance, that he was out-shown, or eclipsed by Jennifer's performance, but I don't know really. Jennifer and Marc had two different acting approaches in my opinion; Jennifer had to be more brash and in-your-face because that was how her character was, according to everyone who knew her, while Marc, who had to embody Hector, had to have a cool, calm and "collected" nature to him (for the most part, of course). Many close to Hector described him as a "Joker," good natured, self-destructive, and extremely flawed, so Marc's acting depicted that I feel. But all-in-all, I personally felt that Jennifer gave the more convincing and complex performance of the two (although Marc was wonderful as well-it's just that Jennifer was that much better).My favorite scenes were: The one where Puchi comes into the recording studio to find Hector's other girlfriend Carmen there, and she has her kicked out (LOL). The scene where Puchi comes home to find Hector shooting-up heroin/high, and they fight. Another is the scene in the night-club towards the end, where Hector is singing, and Puchi comes in to tell him that their son was killed. Then, the scene after their son's funeral when they have another huge fight at their apartment. All of the music/concert scenes were also favorites of mine.Here's another point I wanted to bring up: the never-ending amount of people on this board and other places, as well as critics, talking about the abundance of screen-time that Puchi (Jennifer) gets in this film. People, the story is told from the point-of-view of Puchi, hence Jennifer being in the movie that much. It's not rocket science people. And don't give me that crap about Jennifer giving herself more screen-time because she's one of the producers on the film, that doesn't fly with me. The woman had been attached to the project (as a producer first, and then was convinced to co-star in the film LATER-before her and Marc were even a married couple) since 2001. And Puchi, of all people, wanted Jennifer to play her. What were the producers, director, screenwriters, correspondents, etc. suppose to do really? Write the script from the point-of-view of Hector? No. Unfortunately, he's no longer with us, and he couldn't be there to help guide the film-makers in the process of developing the movie (which wasn't the case with the biopic "Ray"-Ray Charles was alive for the making of the film, and helped with its development). Instead, they were left with the one other person who would possibly know him better than anyone else-his wife, along with many of his friends, band-mates, and manager.Another thing to keep in mind, is the fact that this is NOT a documentary, but only a film based on a true story of Hector's life. There are some aspects that might have been modified in order to condense and what not. But lets be real here folks, it's pretty damn difficult to squeeze the entirety of someone's tragic life into a nearly 2 hour time slot.Lastly, I just wanted to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this film, and it was a joy to discover the beautiful music known as salsa, as well as learn more about the turbulent life of a hero in music folk-lore.
Squaredealer33
Do you like music? Do you like the sound of the conga and the timbale? Go see this film. I don't know if it accurately portrayed Hector and his wife as they were, but I do know the music rocked! Can it be true that this music is rooted in the Puerto Rican experience in America? An amalgamation of styles – the sounds of America? Is America the sounding board for the music that makes the world dance? I was dancing in the isles while the movie was playing – the sound was fantastic (props to the sound engineers) and Marc Anthony rocked the house. Yes, the story was everything you'd expect from a life in the fast lane, but the music rose above it, as it should, and framed the story with it's sublime poetry. I left dancing, happy to have seen this musical slice of life in New York, U.S.A. Keep on dancing! There is also fun in the U.S. of A!
