love letter to Hollywood

Rating: 8/10 (2 September 2017)

Mia Dolan (Emma Stone) is an aspiring actress just like her roommate friends and the multitudes of beautiful girls in Hollywood. Sebastian Wilder (Ryan Gosling) is obsessed with traditional jazz and opening his own pure jazz club. He is often his own worst enemy. The two have a combative, cutest of meet-cutes "I Ran". She leaves her boyfriend. He tries to grow up for her and accepts a place in his friend Keith (John Legend)'s band. They struggle to chase their dreams.
This is a love letter to Hollywood especially the Golden Age of old Hollywood. The movie had a quick rise leading up to an infamous night at the Oscars and an almost as quick of a backlash. The complaints of cliché, hokey, and less than epic singing and dancing from the leads are all fitting to some extend. The problem is that those complaining are actually missing the point. Firstly, Stone and Gosling are perfect cast with their try-hard, glee-loving, pure-loveliness personalities. They are not the best singers or dancers. They are the high school drama kids who made it big. They are drama geeks and that's exactly what this movie is about. It's drama geek heaven. It revels in the old Hollywood clichés. I especially love the poignant ending. This is happiness in celluloid form.