Dreams Don't Come True

Rating: 5/10 (20 December 2016)

"La La Land" has been receiving dozens of accolades about its look, its stars, its love of musicals, and its ability to transport us to a world long gone from the American movies. Damien Chazelle exploded in the movie scene with "Whiplash", a movie that burst with emotions, music, and strong performances. In fact, music was a living character, a force that captured the protagonists souls and bewitched the audience. It seemed only natural that Chazelle would try a more ambitious project, a full-fledged musical, inspired by the golden age of musical, and that somehow would keep his feet on the ground.
Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling play a couple of dreamers who fall in love in the city of dashed dreams. By the time they meet, she has been to too many auditions which led nowhere. He's a lover of jazz, a form of music that doesn't really appeal to the masses, but it is his obsession, and he doesn't appear to be the compromising type. He finds himself often, and he chooses to ignore practicality over dreams. Maybe that's what attracts him to the aspiring actress, or maybe it's the fact that she is a looker and a charmer, with a dash of innocence.
The film has them going to parties full of vapid personalities and possible contacts. These parties are at best hollow, expendable, and also serve as backdrop or props for the next musical number. There were times when I wondered how these two characters managed to even become guests in those settings. There are many "holes" in this musical, and too many instances where one feels like the team is trying too hard to show creativity. He drives an old, loud, and hip convertible. She somehow can afford a Prius with what appears to be a part time job as a barista in, check this, a movie studio.
Musicals are about dreams and don't stress reality and accuracy over dreams and the magic of its music and sets, but even "Singing in The Rain" didn't hold back in its portrayal of the negative in Hollywood. It didn't hold back when showing the prototypes in the parties, and at best, you were part of the help if you ever made into a "party". We have seen spontaneous and magical musical numbers take over reality in many films, the ones in here fall short in many ways.
Much has been said about the "freeway" opening number, and I wanted to like it a lot, but there was no fire in the performances, the dancing, or the quite boring setting. There wasn't any particular challenges in the dancing, and the lyrics felt amateurish at best. It wasn't a good beginning for a musical because it didn't even hint at better things to come.
"La La Land" improves as it goes on, but the quality of the lyrics remains a problem. The melodies in the smaller numbers fare better, almost approaching lovely a couple of times, and since it's a fantastic with touches of realism, it's pretty sad. The only time I felt like I was really witnessing magic was the bit in the Observatory, conveniently opened after closing hours, and when we're given the alternate "take" on what their lives could have been.
Emma is lovely, and Ryan does a good job portraying the jazz piano player. Romance and chemistry register, and there are moments that show the director and writer understands the world of entertainment, but it also reveals that there's a limit to what he knows. It pains me to compare it "Singing in The Rain", but that other movie had its heart and mind in the right place, an exuberant song and dance piece that had insights on what lied in the heart of the beast, showing the duplicity in the hearts of some of the members of this world. Dreams came across loud and clear, in vibrant colors. The hunger to belong and be more successful was apparent in the physical routines. "Fame" which portrayed the world of the aspiring singers and dancers bursts with physical force in all of its numbers. It never needs to call attention to itself.
Maybe the problem is that for a musical about making it and trying to keep dreams and love alive in the city of dreams, it does not offer much in the way of magical settings. The brush around the Observatory is not pretty, especially the first time we see them dancing. There are hints of greatness, but they come too far in between.
Maybe we want to like it too much, but let's be honest it scores big in effort. It doesn't do too well with the finished project. I kept having flashes of "The Artist", "Fame", "Singing in The Rain", films that delivered in quality both lyrically and visually. I wasn't angry, just disappointed because I wanted to like it more. Maybe a bit more time rehearsing, getting a better lyricist, focusing more, etc. could have made its heart beat with a stronger, more interesting form of energy.