Vivo (2021)

In the lead up to the Oscar nominations being announced, my movie viewing is at it's strongest, and I like to watch a few things that will probably not be nominated, but might be, and this movie falls into that realm. The story is set in Havana and the music has a decidedly Afro-Cuban beat that is really the strength of the movie. The composer is Lin Manuel Miranda, who as I have said before, is having a great pandemic year of both creativity and popularity. The music outshines the story, which is that half a century ago a singing duet parted ways, she, Marta, to be successful outside of Cuba and he, Andrés, remained a street performer in Cuba. Marta invites Andrés to join her at her last performance in Miami and he plans to go, but then dies on the eve of his departure. His kinkajou monkey, Vivo, decides to make the trip for him, bringing a song that Andrés wrote for Marta but never gave her. Quite a lot of improbably things happen on this journey, which are fun, if not likely, and the ending is bittersweet.