The Singer

R

Released Aug 3, 2007

1 hr. 56 min.

Biography

Drama

List

25%

106 Reviews

Tomatometer

63%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Puerto Rican singer Héctor Lavoe (Marc Anthony) emigrates to the United States and becomes a pioneer of salsa music. In New York, he meets Puchi (Jennifer Lopez), who becomes Héctor's loving but fiery wife. Signing with Jerry Masucci's Fania record label, Lavoe teams up with trumpeter Willie Colón (John Ortiz) to perfect the new musical style. The duo rise to fame, but Lavoe's struggle with drug addiction threatens his life as well as career.

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Critics Consensus

El Cantante adheres to the most basic conventions of the musical biopic, rendering it indistinguishable from others of its ilk.

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Eric A

Movie did not get any advertising. Jlo should have won award for her performance. Best jlo movie ever..

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I watched this movie having previously seen in documentaries credible first-person accounts of how Bobby Cruz, the crowned King of Salsa who then converted to Christianity in the 70s, reached out to Hector Lavoe with the Gospel--and I was disappointed to see Lavoe's saddest years depicted in this movie with not a mention of these important highlights. I suppose the producers chose the scenes they thought best given their funding--but the director could have taken advantage of the movie's run time in much better ways than spending nearly the first half of it in music video mode. You just can't build a character like that! Marc Anthony as Lavoe could have carried a much more convincing presence in the movie had the directors/producers milked the Lavoe's already profoundly moving story a bit more in several key scenes. These were rather hastily scooted by the viewer instead of elaborating them just a bit more--such as the psychological impact on Lavoe due to the death of his brother, his Dad's strong disapproval of Hector's first trip to NY (before reaching stardom), the deeply consenting relationship Hector gained with his audiences in NY (which were mostly depicted in the film multiple times without Lavoe's frequent dialog with the crowds--what a missed opportunity for character-building monologues), and Hector's suicidal fall from a ninth floor hotel balcony towards the end of his life (a scene that was just abruptly transitioned with nearly no emotional appeal). It's a shame Marc Anthony's portrayal of Lavoe wasn't given the chance to reach its potential in these scenes knowing how passionate Marc Anthony must have felt about this particular role and what a passionate artist he already is in his own right. Jennifer Lopez somewhat saves the day towards the end of this often rushed and underdeveloped story, delivering a heartfelt performance as 'Puchi', Hector's often overlooked and underappreciated wife.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Excellent!!! Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony deliver their greatest dramatic performances thus far. El Cantante is intense and profoundly moving with powerful scenes of of Anthony emboding the Puerto Rican singer - enormously talented, yet equally troubled Hecto Lavoe. His wife Pucci (Lopez) is strongly devoted to Hector although he puts her through hell most of their marriage, despite this - her love and loyalty gets her & Hector through a marriage plauged by extremely difficult times. Overall this an absolutely wonderful bio-pic

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The people that says this movie is bad is because they don't know about salsa music and they don't understand this movie, people belive that if it is a Latin American movie or something related is bad but is not this is a movie Latin Americans really enjoy

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

Audience Member

León Ichaso, el director de "Piñero", nos presenta un biopic acerca de la vida de Héctor Lavoe, una de las figuras clave en el surgimiento de la Salsa en los años 70. Jennifer Lopez interpreta a Puchi, la esposa del cantante, y a manera de flashback nos cuenta el ascenso y descenso de su esposo. La vida de Lavoe incluyó drogadicción, Sida, muertes prematuras e intentos de suicidio y es casi imposible en no caer en todos los lugares comunes de un biopic sobre un artista. Sin embargo, Ichaso logra mostrarnos algo del talento y el proceso artístico que volvió a Lavoe una leyenda de una manera tan efectiva que el espectador, así no guste de la Salsa quedará conmovido. Gracias al gran talento como actor de Marc Anthony, la película estalla en energía cuando el cantante hace lo que mejor sabe hacer.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Excelente película, recreó la cronología de la vida de Lavoe, con una performance profesional de tanto Marc Anthony, como de J-Lo. Todos conocemos el legado de "El Cantante", pero pocos saben las respuestas a los diferentes dilemas de su vida y qué realmente acabó con la vida del salsero, y aquí se dieron. Crónica documentaria mezclada con libretos y actuación. Atractiva y diferente forma de contar una historia.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

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Leon Ichaso

Director

Marc Anthony

Héctor Lavoe

Jennifer Lopez

Puchi

John Ortiz

Willie Colón

Manny Perez

Eddie

Vincent Laresca

Ralph

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Ben Kenigsberg

Time Out

Rated: 1/5

Nov 18, 2011

Full Review

Melissa Anderson

Time Out

Rated: 3/5

Nov 17, 2011

Full Review

Charlotte O'Sullivan

London Evening Standard

In fact, Lopez deserves praise for pushing this project. The recently deceased Puchi (who helped generate the script and pushed for Lopez to play her) is not the kind of character you see on screen every day.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 5, 2008

Full Review

Dave White

Movies.com

Rated: 1.5/5

Apr 4, 2011

Full Review

Matthew Turner

ViewLondon

This is an entertaining biopic that's worth seeing for the terrific musical sequences and for the superb performances by Anthony and Lopez. Recommended.

Rated: 4/5

Sep 5, 2008

Full Review

Stella Papamichael

Film4

It doesn't help that, in the title role, Marc Anthony has all the onscreen charisma of wet dough.

Rated: 2/5

Sep 5, 2008

Full Review

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Synopsis

Puerto Rican singer Héctor Lavoe (Marc Anthony) emigrates to the United States and becomes a pioneer of salsa music. In New York, he meets Puchi (Jennifer Lopez), who becomes Héctor's loving but fiery wife. Signing with Jerry Masucci's Fania record label, Lavoe teams up with trumpeter Willie Colón (John Ortiz) to perfect the new musical style. The duo rise to fame, but Lavoe's struggle with drug addiction threatens his life as well as career.

Director: Leon Ichaso
Screenwriter: Leon Ichaso, David Darmstaeder, Todd Anthony Bello
Distributor: Picturehouse
Production Co: Nuyorican Productions, R-Caro Productions
Rating: R (Pervasive Language|Drug Use|Some Sexuality)
Genre: Biography, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 3, 2007, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 1, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA): $7.6M
Sound Mix: Dolby SRD
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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