El Cantante

Jennifer Lopez in a movie with her real-life love? Haven’t we seen this before, back in the Bennifer days? This time, the gimmick mostly works. El Cantante, the story of Puerto Rican salsa legend Héctor Lavoe (Marc Anthony), employs the standard rise-success-and-drug-addled-fall template used in so many musical biopics. But it’s actually redeemed by the sense that Lopez, as Lavoe’s wife, and Anthony seem to be playing themselves. Except for the cocaine, of course. EXTRAS Commentaries by the writers and director essentially repeat what we’re seeing on screen. B-