The film is based on the life of the late salsa singer Héctor Lavoe, who is portrayed by Anthony.

Initially debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2006, El Cantante was released on August 3, 2007.

On his first night in the city he meets Eddie (Manny Pérez) and discovers the new sound of salsa flowing through the streets.

Papo invites Héctor to the sweet 16 party he is throwing at his apartment for his sister Puchi and there they get to speak further since noticing each other at the club and begin to further fall in love.

He confesses to her that his mother died when he was young, his brother was killed the night he came to New York and that he didn't have many people in his life.

The movie ends with Héctor performing and the credits revealing that he died at the age of 46 of AIDS from sharing needles.

El Cantante, which has an MPAA rating of R, was first premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival which took place in September 2006.

[1] Charlotte O'Sullivan of the Evening Standard said the "film did not go down well" at the box office, crediting its lack of commercial success to Lopez and Anthony "know[ing] nothing about salsa" and its "negative view of the Latino community by focusing on Lavoe's drug use and death from Aids", which had sparked controversy.

Koehler was critical of both performances, feeling that while Lopez brought "plenty of ferocity" to her character, there wasn't "shape" or "power" to her "wrath", and labeled Anthony "the dullest of movie drug addicts".

Scott praised Lopez's performance, noting that it had "a lot of fight" with "a hard, skeptical edge" that made Puchi "a more interesting and plausible character than her husband".

[13] Kevin Maher of The Times was negative, stating that the "soft-pedalled account of Lavoe's rise to fame and his drug-related downfall that has more in common with the biopic parody Walk Hard than anything as muddy as real life".

[14] Claudia Puig of USA Today said Anthony "gives a fine and impassioned performance" in a story that "relies on formula and clichés of the genre" which meant "we don't learn enough about what caused the Puerto Rican-born Lavoe's downward spiral into drug use, promiscuity and suicide attempts after he gained fame in New York City".

The recently deceased Puchi (who helped generate the script and pushed for Lopez to play her) is not the kind of character you see on screen every day.

[8] The film was criticized, and accused of "usurping barrio culture and exploiting Lavoe's memory", with salsa singer Ismael Miranda condemning it for "focusing too much on the tragic artist's drug abuse, which eventually led to his death from AIDS complications".

Other celebrities who criticized the film included singer Domingo Quiñones, and vocalist Cheo Feliciano.

[17] Willie Colón, Lavoe's long time friend and musical partner, was critical of the film.

The real story was about Hector fighting the obstacles of a nonsupportive industry that took advantage of entertainers with his charisma and talent.

In addition, although the film was predominantly a love story, Colón also noted that in real life, he believed Puchi caused Lavoe's drug problems, but was canonized "so that Jennifer can play her".

[17] David L. Coddon of U-T San Diego said following the film's release, "Latino pop culture's highest-profile couple is taking heat from salsa purists who complain that the film, about salsa legend Hector Lavoe, is a distortion, even an exploitation", while also stating Lopez is "one of the most famous women in the world, and there's nothing her critics can do to change that".