I wasn't as bowled over as most people purport to be, but it was much better than anticipated.

Rating: 7/10 (23 April 2018)

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not in the target demographic for 'La La Land (2017)', especially considering that I hold the musical as my least favourite and most cringe-inducing genre by quite a wide margin, but I've always maintained that I will watch almost anything within reason and it's been hard to find anyone - from critics and the academy to general audiences and even those who, much like me, are not typically enamoured by the genre - not singing this nostalgically musical romantic-comedy's praises at the top of their lungs. So, I gritted my teeth as I gave it a watch and I'm glad that, while I can safely say that I wasn't anywhere near as bowled over as most people purport to be, it's actually much better than I was expecting thanks mainly to some superb directing and a mature, layered screenplay. It's clearly at its best when not overtly a musical, the conceivably diegetic song-and-dance routines fit the material much better than the ones clearly abstracted from the predetermined reality (made all the more jarring when overly fantastical elements, such as flying, are tossed into the fray), as it tells a subversive story that slowly creeps away from its romanticised roots and ends on an aptly realistic note with a message that runs counter to most others in the genre. Plus, a couple of the songs are kind of catchy, too. 7/10