"Here's to the ones who dream, foolish as they may seem"

Rating: 9/10 (4 February 2017)

It is not the more original story ever, but it gives a sense of nostalgia, containing several references to classic musicals. The dance scenes are frequently long takes, increasing the immersion in these scenes and their spectacular nature.
It is a movie that brings the idea of Los Angeles as "city of dreams" and the musical as the romantic fairy tale. But we know that time is not going back. We cannot bring the old good musical.
The movie begins with a dance sequence that is a reference to The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (or "Les parapluies de Cherbourg" on its original title), a musical from Jacques Demy. And it is curious that on the scene in which the Casablanca windows are shot, one can see "Parapluies" above a door, reinforcing that reference.
Another curiosity is that one of the characteristics of the Demy's movies is their overlapping continuity, that is, characters crossing over from film to film. And, in what can be understood as one more reference to Demy is the boss of Sebastian, which asks the musician not to play jazz songs but pop songs. This character is played by J. K. Simmons, who also played the jazz teacher in Whiplash, the previous movie from Damien Chazelle. So, this character could be crossing from Whiplash, which would make sense, as Sebastian argues that jazz is becoming less popular, and the character would have left his job as jazz musician and teacher, becoming a bar owner who does not want jazz due to its lack of popularity.
The movie has not the conventional happy ending of the musicals. It seems that romance between the main characters is not the central theme of the film. Instead, the real love was with their dreams. Because, although the movie honours the old classics, the romance story is one of the current times, in which the love is no more above everything. Our personal dreams are many times above the people we care for, but that does not mean that we will like them less.