Fun while it lasted

Rating: 6/10 (14 January 2017)

While there was some fanciful (silly?) plotting, I enjoyed La La Land while I was watching it - probably to the level of a 9 or 10 rating. It was fun and funny and romantic and beautiful and magical. Emma and Ryan are talented and very appealing, whether separately or together. The fact that they are not especially gifted as singers and dancers didn't bother me at all; in fact, I found that to be charming. The musical numbers were engaging and satisfactory, if not particularly memorable. It would be unfair to compare this movie to classic movie musicals, because it's really a whole different animal.
However, in reflecting on the movie afterwards, I felt a bit cheated, so I dropped my score a couple of notches, and decided I had to write a rare (for me) review. My experience was like fully relishing a whole tub of buttered popcorn and then coming to my senses afterward. My first clue that something was off was how I felt at the end of the movie - not thrilled, not heartbroken - just disappointed (and a bit confused). In reflecting on this feeling, I realized that it wasn't that the characters didn't have sufficient chemistry for me to feel something; rather, the script/plotting let them down.
The basic story is about two cute kids exploring their dreams in LA who meet and fall in love. The audience's dream is that these two can make it as a couple (despite inevitable setbacks along the way). If a storyteller is going to dash that dream, he or she needs a darn good explanation. There isn't one here. The two kids (rather magically, and in relatively short order, from a real-world perspective) achieve their career goals, presumably at the cost of their romance. Are we really to believe that they had to choose one or the other - and that, if so, these two dreamers would choose career achievement over love? The two breakup scenes were both totally lacking in terms of convincing the audience that this pair might be ultimately incompatible or should not keep working on their relationship and enjoying one another.
So, I was robbed of a satisfying resolution. I was leaning toward a 7 rating, but I think I've talked myself into a 6.