Jon M. Chu’s In The Heights is an incredibly charming, visually dazzling musical filled with an infectious joy that’s nearly impossible to resist. So much of the source material translated well from stage to screen, but there were a number of places in which – even if you’re unfamiliar with the stage production – story points and character beats felts as if they were missing or out-of-place, keeping the narrative from being as satisfying as if could have been. The framing device that has been inserted into the story is the film’s biggest misstep, emotionally manipulating the audience and attempting to raise the stakes through narrative deception. Still, the cast is excellent across the board and it’s a delight to see the ways Chu places these the musical numbers in conversation with the entire history of movie musicals. There’s still so much work to do in terms of BIPOC representation , and it’s wonderful to see an almost entirely Latino cast in a major motion picture – it’s something to be celebrated. But it’s also important to note that Afro Latinos, who make up a significant part of the neighborhood depicted in film, are absent from the main cast. Again, there is so much to enjoy about this film, in spite of its flaws and imperfections. It’s one that I’ll undoubtedly see again and again.