Some might also be annoyed that the film focuses too much on Puchi, Hector’s wife played by Lopez. However, I think that for this film to work, they needed to rely on Jennifer because Marc Anthony is not as strong of an actor. When he is on stage performing, his character comes alive. Aside from the drug use, the film doesn’t focus much on what motivated him as an artist or delve much into what was causing his self-destruction. I could speculate that in many ways Puchi drove him to drink and drug because she was demanding, selfish, and an enabler, but there were probably other character issues brewing before Hector even met her. J. Lo had me convinced that she was Puchi, she had the bitchy Nuyorican accent, the gaudy gold jewelry, the carefully coiffed hair, and the hot dance moves. From the beginning, you know that she’s going to dominate the story in her own way because as narrator she exclaims that this is her version of the events.

The musical scenes are great. If you don’t know much about salsa, you will gain an understanding of the music’s complexity and richness. The lyrics are creatively subtitled in English to fit into the performance scenes. The movie is worth seeing just for the music alone.

If anything comes out of this film, I hope that it inspires the Hollywood establishment to take a closer look at films with a largely Latino cast. El Cantante certainly was creative. I’m already saddened that this film is not showing on many screens, and I’m here in Latinolandia. So if you have already seen many of the big films out this summer and are looking for something else, go see this one. I think that you might be pleasantly surprised. I know that I was.

That being said, I came across this article where J. Lo and Marc Anthony warn young stars to avoid the enablers who indulge and  say “yes” to whatever the stars want to keep them happy. We have seen less of La Lopez since she married Marc, and she said that this move on her part was a conscious, mature decision. I’m sure that someone told her or she came to the realization that she was not doing herself any favors by being available to be photographed and splashed across the tabloids every week. Remember the days when we knew where she had appeared with P. Diddy and every plan she had with Ben Affleck? I’m ashamed to admit that I know as much about J. Lo as I do because of the celebrity feeding frenzy in the media. But I have to commend her for staying out of the spotlight for a little while and choosing to live her life quietly as a private citizen.

I also hope that El Cantante lives up to its hype. That would be sweet for both J. Lo and Marc Anthony and really for the rest of us Latinos in general, as it would send a message that films about us are in demand and worth marketing to the broader American audience. I think that it will also illustrate to the younger talent in Hollywood that you can reshape your image by avoiding the media like J. Lo has managed to do and come back and create notable films. I hope that her time away from the spotlight has helped her grow personally and as an actress. For awhile there, I think that most of us can agree that she was overexposed, and that exposure really was not doing anything for her art, image, or personal relationships.