Marc Anthony’s stage presence is great, but not great enough to make this a great movie. Photo by Eric Liebowitz/courtesy of Nuyorican Productions and R-Caro Productions

The first time we see Hector Lavoe in El Cantante, he’s in a heroin-induced stupor and can barely move. The year is 1985, and according to his wife, Puchi, it’s the best time of their lives. If this is the good, we don’t want to see the bad.

But see it we do, and director/co-writer Leon Ichaso’s El Cantante (Spanish for “the singer”) embraces every aspect of Lavoe’s promiscuous, drug-addicted life and successful singing career in the same woe-is-me manner all musical biopics seem to embrace. Granted, the origins of the salsa movement Lavoe helped create in the 1970s are new to the big screen, but after Ray and Walk the Line, Lavoe arrives as yet another brilliantly talented musician whose personal life was an absolute mess.

In flashbacks, Puchi (Jennifer Lopez) recalls how they met and fell in love, how Lavoe (Marc Anthony) became famous, addicted to drugs, etc. The intention is for the viewer to feel informed about Lavoe’s life, but the result is a judgmental hindsight perspective that doesn’t allow his career and personal troubles to stand on their own and make a real impact. In effect, having someone else comment on his hardships undermines the emotional force of his self-destructive decisions.

Rumor has it Lopez has been trying to get Lavoe’s story made for years, which explains both the casting of her real-life husband (Anthony) and the fact that her role is much larger than it should be. This is the story of Hector Lavoe, a Puerto Rican immigrant for whom the American dream came true, not Puchi. Although Lopez’s performance is solid, her excessive screen time suggests Puchi’s life was just as interesting as Lavoe’s. It wasn’t, not even close.

As Lavoe, Anthony gives a standout performance for what thus far has been a nominal acting career. Yes, the singer-turned-actor is playing a singer, but he truly does possess both the screen presence and emotional range to play Lavoe effectively. He’s appropriately funny, solemn, bossy and demonstrative as needed, and he hits all the emotional highs and lows with convincing candor. He of course sings well: “El Cantante,” “Que Lío” and “Quítate” are among the highlights, but don’t expect an Oscar nomination even though the movie is as good as it is almost exclusively because of his performance.

Many of the film’s problems could have been solved by a better script and smarter directing from Ichaso (Bitter Sugar, Piñero). Lavoe’s disapproving Puerto Rican father and distance from his own son undoubtedly have a lot to do with why he’s such a tortured soul, but the connection between that and his inability to communicate with anyone is never convincingly made. If the suppression of his emotions is why he overindulges in drugs, drinking and women, then the reasons for the personal trauma are very important and need to be better explored.

Although a great performance can sometimes make a movie great (Charlize Theron in Monster), it cannot always save a flawed movie (Denzel Washington in The Hurricane). In El Cantante, Anthony is stricken with the latter, and almost does enough on his own to make up for the innumerable obstacles around him. Almost.

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El Cantante **1/2 Directed by Leon Ichaso. Written by Leon Ichaso, David Darmstaedter and Todd Antony Bello. Starring Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez. Rated R. **** A genuine must-see ***  Entertaining **   Mediocre but not worthless *    A wretched waste of time Also opening in Miami-Dade County this Friday: Becoming Jane, The Bourne Ultimatum, Bratz: The Movie, David and Layla, Hot Rod, The Ten, Underdog, Vitus, Daddy Day Camp (Wednesday, Aug. 8)