This film has been long-awaited. Having never seen the musical before, but listened to the soundtrack, I loved it! I admire the effort put in to keep the cast people of color (as appropriate to the story) and keep the story and characters true to the Broadway version. If you enjoyed Moana and Hamilton, odds are, you will love this movie. Overall, see it now!

outstanding production

If you love music and dancing and a good story and cast you will love this movie I Did!!!!

Released during the tenuous summer 2020 movie season, "In the Heights" hoped to bank on the energy of a musical and the name of Lin-Manuel Miranda, whose project this was before he became famous with 'Hamilton.'

Focusing on the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City and its inhabitants, we see their struggles and their dreams as narrated by Anthony Ramos' Usnavi, the owner of a corner store who dreams of returning to his father's beachside bar in the Dominican Republic. Miranda makes an occasional appearance as a street vendor.

While not at the same level as the big-screen release of the stage performance of Hamilton from 2020, this stands on its own and should be seen as its own work of art.

It's enjoyable, with great music and very relatable characters. It probably suffered from a weak overall market, so its box office performance should not be seen as an accurate judge of its quality.

The good news is that it's widely available on home video, both on disc and on streaming services. I viewed it this way, and I don't think that it suffers in any way as a result.