A very pleasant surprise

Rating: 7/10 (19 January 2017)

There has been a lot of hype about La La Land. A modern take on the old style Hollywood musical, dancing, singing and romance with everybody living happily ever after. This kind of movie doesn't normally float my boat, but Damien Chazelle, the director, made the brilliant 2014 hit 'Whiplash', so I thought I'd give it a try. I had a smile on my face through most of the movie, the songs, while not greatly memorable fit the scenes well. I'm more Fred Ward than Astaire, so my knowledge of choreography is zip, but the dancing seemed fine to me. There is a good chemistry between the lead actors, played by Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling and I think the cinematography is superb, the use of colour is fantastic. Overall, not being a lover of musicals, I was very surprised by how much I liked it. A solid 7/10.