As the sun rises on the morning after my evening with Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, I look back on what had transpired and consider the accolades and praise granted to La La Land. With 14 nominations, I knew I was walking into the theater with loaded prejudice, but with every fiber in my being, I tried to remain open minded and objective. Oddly, while reading unanimous praise from media outlets, not a single individual I knew had said anything about their experience, in person or in social media. With the propaganda machine in full swing, I paid my fare and conjured up hopes that Gene Kelly would approve. Let’s just say, he didn’t leave the theater dancing, but maybe on the way out pursed his lips together to whistle a jazzy, Gosling tune.

The film opens with a physical spectacle atop traffic jammed cars, singing a song I couldn’t quite understand. I am trying my hardest to remember, but I have no idea what they were singing about. I often found the lyrics hard to understand throughout the film, so I followed the visuals to keep up with the story. And this is a great time to mention that the story is this films strongest aspect, but it is also its most predictable. Emma Stone plays a hard luck actress, passing from audition to audition waiting for the chance to shine. Ryan Gosling plays an uncompromising jazz musician who wants to revive his craft and reclaim an old club that once housed the greats. If I have to tell you where this story goes… just enjoy the ride. There is no way to separate the characters from the story because this film lives and breathes through them.

I was hoping for there to be a bit more going on in their lives, but true to musical form, the focus is on those who sing, which in this case, is basically just the two of them. The lyrical content is a bit lacking. It’s mostly flawed in that it has such simplistic rhyme,  and leaves most of the jokes and witty banter to the unsung words. Most of the power in any of the singing comes from the acting and visuals.

Personally, only one song actually stood out for me as a memorable tune. The main theme isn’t as addicting as it should be, but the somber tune played by Gosling between bouts of self-doubt or angst is quite memorable.

Rather than play a strong homage to the classics or create something completely original, it staggers along with two left feet, boldly juxtaposing the fantasy world of musicals against the monotony of romcoms. Classically, the transition from story to song in dance in musicals has always been organic. La La Land makes a point of avoiding this at all costs. This makes for a jarring display of ripping the audience from the realistic to the surreal and back again, without any artistic reason I can ascertain. The talking bits are very modern and have the common sense any drama would. The song and dance numbers are homages to film and stage performances, but without that sense of flare and raw talent that tapped across the silver screen of yore. That isn’t to say that Stone and Gosling are lacking completely, their performances are well oiled in song and dance, it’s just not as demanding.

I won’t argue for which awards this film deserves or not. It would be rather useless to fight against the Godzilla sized propaganda machine this film has in place. Instead, I will simply agree with the basic message, this movie was enjoyable. If you enjoy a medley of romcom tossed with musical sentiments and a heaping helping of Hollywood nostalgia, you won’t be disappointed. There is a lot of honesty in the portrayal of the characters, but it really lacks the consistent charm of the great musicals of the past.

~* 8/10 *~