Metacritic Movie Ratings
El Cantante Reviews

A sample of reviews from critics across the country.

• 63

  out of 100

  USA TodayClaudia Puig

  The music is the uncontested highlight of El Cantante.

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• 50

  out of 100

  Entertainment WeeklyScott 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.

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• 50

  out of 100

  Chicago Sun-TimesRoger 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?

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• 50

  out of 100

  The New York TimesA.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.

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• 50

  out of 100

  The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt

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

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• 40

  out of 100

  VarietyRobert Koehler

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

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