El CantanteMovie Reviews

Poster art for "El Cantante."

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So-so
Avg. Critic Score: 46 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
16 Iffy for 16+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 75
    Philadelphia Inquirer | Carrie Rickey

    It's a soaring, crashing, blazing affair with pyrotechnic performances by real-life spouses Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez as Lavoe and his wife, Puchi. Like a plane disaster, it holds you in thrall of ay, Dios mio! drama. Read full review

  • 70
    Washington Post | Ann Hornaday

    A star isn't born in El Cantante as much as it's reconfirmed. She's still here, and she's still got it. Read full review

  • 63
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    The music is the uncontested highlight of El Cantante. Read full review

  • 50
    Boston Globe | Ty Burr

    Ideally, it would give you a sense of an entire people knocking the planet off its axis with a shake of their hips. If only El Cantante were that movie. Instead, it's a curiously sludgy cross between a Doomed Star biopic and a J. Lo vanity project. Read full review

  • 50
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    Unfortunately, the music is as irresistible as the tired story of a musician succumbing to substance abuse is resistible. Read full review

  • 50
    The New York Times | A.O. Scott

    It may be best to approach El Cantante less as a movie than as a two-hour promotional video for a must-have soundtrack album. Read full review

  • 50
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    If you're a fan of Hector Lavoe and Latin music, or Lopez and Anthony, you'll want to see El Cantante for what's good in it. Otherwise, you may be disappointed. The director (Leon Ichaso) and his co-writers haven't licked a crucial question: Why do we need to see this movie and not just listen to the music? Read full review

  • 50
    Entertainment Weekly | Scott Brown

    Anthony, with his famished thousand-yard stare, turns in a delicate -- perhaps too delicate -- performance more informed by the shadow of Lavoe's death than the spark of his art. And his shrill domestic scenes with Lopez feel small and squalid, as we wait restlessly for the band to play us out. Read full review

  • 40
    Variety | Robert Koehler

    A virtual template of every imaginable cliche of the musical biopic, picture suffers from a lack of narrative and character focus Read full review

  • 25
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    The film doesn't make a case for Lavoe as an important artist. Read full review

View more reviews for El Cantante on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+ Another singer self-destructs, to a Latin beat.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that even though J Lo is popular with younger teens, this isn't a movie for that age group. The characters abuse alcohol, engage in excessive drug use, curse frequently, and generally display self-degrading, suicidal behavior. Many scenes depict explicit drug use and sexual activity, mostly motivated by the mind-altering substances. Though the audience soon understands that there's little hope for Hector Lavoe and his family, the characters themselves seem unable to change their conduct, even at the risk of their own lives and the lives of loved ones. It's a non-stop downward spiral without a happy ending.
  • Families can talk about the many celebrities who have struggled with drug and alcohol abuse. Why did Lavoe, who was talented and had achieved fame and had a loving family and friends behave in such a disastrous way? What traits might help someone famous stay grounded and be able to cope with stardom? Would those traits be helpful for the average person as well? How did the music, and particularly the lyrics, add to your understanding of the characters?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Leading characters exhibit self-destructive behavior and are hurtful to others; women are treated as sexual objects and abused verbally; drug use shown to destroy relationships, careers, and family.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: Intense domestic verbal fighting with threat of violence; firearm used for purpose of intimidation.
  • sex false3 Sex: Adulterous behavior, sexual foreplay, and off-camera intercourse; seductive dancing; two adults in a provocative bathtub scene; no actual nudity.
  • language false5 Language: Continuous use of cursing; "f---k" in all forms is used in almost every scene.
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false5 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Both leading characters are drug addicts and are pictured high and/or incapacitated throughout; drugs are clearly ingested and injected in numerous scenes, and use is implied in others; frequent alcohol consumption leads to anti-social and cruel behavior.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

Looking for more reviews? Movies.com Critics Say:

Dave White

1.5

Dave White Profile See Dave White's Profile

… like Lopez is reading aloud from a biopic instruction manual. Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

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