So So Town

Rating: 7/10 (9 October 2016)

I spent a lot of the running time trying to decide if this was an 'homage' to or a send-up of Movie Musicals back in the day. The Opening sequence for example (which prefaces the title) plays right into the hands of those anti-movie musical types who argue that it's unrealistic for people to break into song whilst walking down a street, accompanied by an unseen full-scale orchestra. The sequence in question tops them all; we're on the freeway in L.A. and it's gridlocked. We gradually home in on a lone girl in her car. She begins to sing softy, then louder, she leaves her car and dances down the freeway threading between the gridlocked cars and before you can say Busby Berkley she's joined by what seems like 50 other people singing and dancing in perfect alignment; eat your heart out, Berkley. Oh, and by the way, this has no connection with anything that follows. Then we're introduced to the two protagonists - they did appear, again separately, in that opening sequence but only as two drivers caught in the gridlock - she is an aspiring actress dealing them off the arm between auditions, he is a jazz pianist by talent and inclination but again playing in Mickey Mouse outfits and dreaming of opening his own club. It is, inevitably, referential, the story - they get together for a while - is New York, New York, moved to the West Coast, there are several song and dance sequences that echo Fred and Ginger and a lovely rip-off of the Dancing In The Dark number as perfected by Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse in The Bandwagon. It runs a tad over two hours and yes, I would watch it again.