Short of greatness

Rating: 7/10 (9 May 2017)

Tis said that a really great picture is one where even the small character parts truly stand out. Gone With The Wind boasts not just its four memorable leads, but a whole flock of memorable characters who stand out. Dr. Meade by Harry Davenport and his wife Julia Meade by Jane Darwell are two examples and there are many more.
La La Land stands short of real greatness in that it only concentrates on its two leads with the rest of the characters well into the background. But the two leads Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone being nominated for Best Actor and Actress and Stone taking home the Oscar gold.
La La Land is a salute to those old time backstage musicals in an age when movies just don't have the talented musical performers to do those films any more. Emma Stone had some nice notes, but Gosling did his singing in the tradition of Rex Harrison who as I recall won Oscar and Tony for being Henry Higgins with talk/sing role.
Gosling is a musician, a jazz pianist in the tradition of Earl Hines and Count Basie and he wants to bring back jazz. He truly hates contemporary music and the fact he has to play keyboard in a rock band rather than do what those aforementioned gentlemen did. I really identified with Gosling, in my own life I'm posting music with Bing and Frank and their contemporaries on Facebook and care not if no one else listens but me.
Stone just wants the world to notice her talent and in that cruel and heartless world that can be show business getting noticed about 3/4 of the battle. She does do a reckless move that would and could dishearten anyone so the world will notice what she has to offer.
Besides Stone winning Best Actress and young Damian Chazelle for Best Director, La La Land won 6 others and several more nominations like Gosling's. The music is fine though I wish we had people like Frank Sinatra or a Gene Kelly to perform this stuff now.
La La Land is a wonderful film that falls a tad short on greatness.