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(1 - 16) of 16 OFCS Rating: 13% Rotten Page   1   2/5 "While the script and direction definitely drag El Cantante down, the portrait of Puchi in this film -- true or false -- places the final perfectly groomed and polished nails in the movie's creative coffin."   PopMatters   Bill Gibron B+ "Perhaps there will come a time when a musical bio-pic doesn't hang its hat on misery, but at the end of the day, El Cantante is pretty darn good despite the odious familiarity of the ingredients."   eFilmCritic.com   Brian Orndorf "The film distrusts viewers to keep up with a story that, even it is isn't well-known beyond salsa and Latino communities, can speak for itself."   PopMatters   Cynthia Fuchs 2/5 "To Paraphrase Denis Leary: I'm stoned; I'm nobody. I'm stoned; I'm famous. I'm stoned; I'm dead."   eFilmCritic.com   Dan Lybarger 2/4 "The film coasts on famed salsa legend Hector Lavoe's music and Anthony's impassioned performance, but it makes way to many concessions to the Ray mode of biopic storytelling."   Slant Magazine   Ed Gonzalez C- "To put it bluntly: Why should I care who Hector Lavoe was? El Cantante does nothing to answer that question."   EricDSnider.com   Eric D. Snider 2/4 "I want a great film about Hector Lavoe, and after watching this, I'm still waiting for it..."   Cinema Crazed   Felix Vasquez Jr. D "Mingles every cliche of the genre with a hyperkinetic style more likely to induce vertigo than sympathy or understanding."   One Guy's Opinion   Frank Swietek "The stew of salsa music is delicious but the drama of drug addiction and a tempestuous marriage are nothing more than stale leftovers from many other biopictures."   Spirituality and Practice   Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat C "...fails to illuminate its audience with any real understanding of Lavoe, his place in the music industry or the movement he created...the only reason to see El Cantante are for the sizzling salsa numbers Anthony performs"   Reeling Reviews   Laura Clifford 2/4 "Biopic clichés hamstring producer-star Jennifer Lopez's pet project, which purports to recount the rise and fall of pioneering salsa singer Hector Lavoe but devotes as much -- if not more -- screentime to his hellion wife."   TV Guide's Movie Guide   Maitland McDonagh 1.5/4 "The biopic in its barest form."   Mark Reviews Movies   Mark Dujsik 2/4 "Ichaso and his writing collaborators never allow Hector Lavoe to be much more than a voice with substance abuse issues, not a person."   Mr. Brown's Movies   Michael Dequina 1/5 "Together, Lopez and Anthony have created the kind of wildly miscast and misconceived star couple vehicle that hasn't been seen since. . .well, since the infamous "Gigli" and even that film seems more explainable in retrospect than this one."   eFilmCritic.com   Peter Sobczynski 1/5 "¡Cómo terrible!"   Filmcritic.com   Sean O'Connell "El Cantante disintegrates into a stylized jumble -- even a straightforward jumble would have been preferable."   Salon.com   Stephanie Zacharek  (1 - 16) of 16 OFCS Rating: 13% Rotten Page   1