"It's pretty strange that we keep running into each other."

Rating: 8/10 (21 January 2017)

I'm quickly coming to the conclusion that this year's Academy Award nominations for Best Picture will be one of the weakest ones in recent memory. This film is the third one I've seen among likely nominees, the others being "Manchester by the Sea" and "Arrival". Taking nothing away from this film's principals, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, I couldn't help thinking that this is the kind of picture I might have gotten a kick out of if I was still in high school. It seems geared to adolescent fans of musical drama and Academy folks who will be enthralled by the doomed romance aspects of the story, leaving a wide range of movie goers in between for whom real life has a lot more to it than dancing away one's road rage on a jammed freeway.
With that, I don't have too much of a problem with the production aspects of the movie. It's bright and colorful and there's some gorgeous cinematography at work but it doesn't seem enough. I'd have to say that Emma Stone does a remarkable job with the range of emotions she's expected to convey; I'm actually a sucker for anyone who can cry at the drop of a dime the way she does here any number of times. Ryan Gosling is not quite her match in that regard, but still pretty competent in his role as the conflicted jazz man. Considering they aren't professional dancers, the scenes calling for them to strut their stuff are done quite well.
I thought as well that the frequent Griffith Observatory scenes were overdone. Sebastian (Gosling) and Mia (Stone) weren't rebels without a cause; they had inspired goals in mind that they pursued with diligence and patience. The ill fated aspect of their romance at the heart of the story will bring a tear to the eye of many viewers, but within the context of the story it felt contrived and telegraphed long before the break up actually occurred.
With that, the film stands at number twenty four on IMDb's list of all time rated movies as I write this, right between "The Silence of the Lambs" and "It's a Wonderful Life". Can anyone explain that? It will almost certainly adjust downward as time goes by, but it's personally frustrating for me to see brand new releases accorded the same stature as films that have stood the test of time over decades.
One bright spot though - the scene with Miles Anderson as the photographer in that 'bite the lip' segment - that was hilarious.