A curate's egg of a film.

Rating: 7/10 (18 December 2016)

I am a great fan of musicals, I own over 700 of them on DVD and lecture on the subject all over Israel. I eagerly anticipated this film which arrived in Israel on December 16th. I am disappointed.
In parts this film is good, the opening sequence on the freeway superb, but parts of the film were, simply, boringly slow. The music and songs were good but not outstandingly memorable. The "hit" song City of Stars was not allowed to be performed fully and the marvelous and colorful dance sequence towards the end was cut shamefully short. The jazz sequences were terrific, if you like jazz as the dialog points out.
Ryan Gosling is a revelation as a singer,dancer and pianist but everyone else was average. The constant panning of the camera was a distraction but the long, continuous, single takes work very well, particularly Emma Stone's audition song. The dance sequence between the two stars into the clouds was poor, not even in the same class as as Woody Allen and Diane Keaton.
The film is described by some as a tribute to Fred and Ginger. Hardly. And I wonder how many of the current reviews from such limited distribution are from actors and luvvies from la la land?
Yes, this is a good film, one I might watch again but the advance hype is not supported by what I saw on screen. The audience seemed to like it, with the odd exception and, maybe, I am being too critical which is likely reflected in the "likes" for my review. But this is not, in my opinion, a musical that will stand the test of time as a blockbuster.