A musical that doesn't need to be a musical, but nonetheless is a good start to bringing back the movie musical.

Rating: 8/10 (28 March 2017)

As a film, "La La Land" does a lot of things right, but as a musical, it does a lot of things not so right. The chemistry between Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling is undeniable, and the story that is told between the two is very well done. The jazz score of this movie is absolutely fantastic, and does the movie a great service. Ryan Gosling's piano playing bits are honestly amazing, and his character is fleshed out very well, as is Emma Stone's. However, Emma Stone's singing sometimes leaves something to be desired, and sometimes the direction of some of the dialogue leads to an occasional drop in the pace of the film. I really wish that some unknown, true musical theatre actors were chosen for this film, rather than famous pretty faces, but that's probably just me. I truly believe that if you stack this film up against other movie musicals, like "West Side Story" for instance, it would fall flat on its face. If this film came out, say 20 years ago, it would not be the critical success that it is now. The traditional film elements that "La La Land" undertakes are generally very well done, but as a musical, it often fails. 8.2/10