Pleasant enough but ultimately superficial and a little smug

Rating: Null/10 (5 June 2018)

Blockbuster season and awards season - two periods of the year where it is easy to get caught up in the hype but not always easy to find really good films. In the awards time of year it is particularly hard since everyone is talking up films as much as possible, and lots of 'proper' films come out around then in order to qualify. Last year was no different and La La Land was one of the films that we were all told was a big contender and would surely merit its place surrounded by the great films that had gone before it. Years of disappointment has told me not to get caught up in the hype but just catch things later when they are cheaper and have lost their promotion. With La La Land, that time was now, but the distance has actually only hurt it.
More on that in a minute. Generally speaking, La La Land is perfectly fine. It is a pleasant film that has charm and good grace mostly. It wallows in an image of Hollywood that doesn't exist, and fills its delivery with nostalgia and simplification; it is easy to see why it was so popular with those successfully in the industry, and those all hoping that their big break is just around the corner. As a story there is not much too it. The delivery isn't as charming as it needed to be; the musical numbers after that first great one are mostly only okay - they try hard, but they are only okay. The characters are thin, although they benefit from good performances - mostly from Stone, who I really enjoyed. It is nothing special, but it works in a sort of cheerful fantasy way.
One year on though, and the #MeToo movement and associated revelations cast a different light on a young woman in Hollywood trying to get ahead. La La Land was a bit smug and fantastical before this, but after it has an air of denial to it too - unintended of course and not the film's fault, but it is there nonetheless, and the cheerful "have a dream and get your break" theme stands out badly. Like I say though, not the film's fault - but even without that problem, the film is at best just pleasant to watch but not more.