El Cantante

There were good and bad things about this movie. This good was all that you'd expect. The music. Wow. The music. Plus, the feel of the movie. The way it looked, the way they drank, ate, just the everyday of it all. It did seem very authentic.

And did I mention the music?

The acting was mostly good, but sometimes not good. I've never been one of those "J-Lo can't act" people, so I'm starting from a fairly positive place. That said, there were definitely times when I could see she was acting. What does that mean? It means that I'm going along, watching the movie, and then I suddenly realize that I'm watching Jennifer acting in a movie. She pulled me right out of my little make believe movie world. It wasn't all the time, but some of the time. Aside from that, though, I thought she was good. Her scene after the death of her son was perfect. That was a place where she could have really gone right to that over the top, diva place and she didn't. The way she did it was absolutely perfect.

Marc was good. Was he fantastic? I don't know. Hector Lavoe only died about 15 years ago, so I think how Marc did in this movie is dependent on how familiar you are with the subject. I knew nothing about the King of Salsa prior to seeing this movie, so I'm coming from that end of the spectrum. If you're coming from the other end, you might have a different opinion.

The movie also co-starred the absolutely delicious John Ortiz (swoon!) as Willie Colon. I learned something, watching the movie, and I think that was the point of the whole exercise.

And did I mention the music?