Rotten
This messy, maudlin portrait of the decline and decline of Puerto Rico-born salsa star Hector Lavoe wavers uncertainly between cable channel biopic and socially concerned drug movie.
Wally Hammond, Time Out
El Cantante
Based on the true story of the King of Salsa, Hector Lavoe
2006 · 1h 56m · R
Drama, History, Music
Directed by
Leon Ichaso
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El Cantante
Overview
The rise and fall of salsa singer, Héctor Lavoe (1946-1993), as told from the perspective of his wife Puchi, who looks back from 2002.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
24%
Tomatometer
Rotten
This may be one of the very few biopics in which the subject is marginalized to the point of irrelevance.
Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star
Rotten
El Cantante has to legitimize its subject before it can immortalize him; and in the effort, it makes the mistake of letting a star get in the way of the truth.
Mark Lepage, Globe and Mail
Fresh
I would have liked to have seen a more in-depth look at the salsa movement. Still, we do get a lot of great music, and Anthony is a natural onscreen in a tailor-made role.
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
Rotten
Marc Anthony plays the smack-addicted singer, who has some dynamite numbers but not much to say for himself.
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader
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