Let down right at the last

Rating: 7/10 (18 January 2017)

For the most part, Damien Chazelle's Hollywood-based musical is a truly sumptuous affair full of glorious highlights with a touching romance between Stone's wannabe actress and Gosling's jazz pianist at its centre. Then the words "five years later" pop up on screen and you realise that it is, in fact, trying a bit too hard. It suddenly appears uncomfortable with its own whimsy, thrusting an unnecessary "reality" upon its audience in the final moments which undermines the joyousness of what has gone before. To an audience surely now fully invested in this dazzling couple, anything other than a future together is pointless: the attempt to marry dancing on top of cars and among the stars with a more modern truth is too awkward. A closing montage showing us the more traditional happy ending makes it even worse for the romantics, almost suggesting with its Chaplin-esque routines that any alternative to the proffered conclusion would be ridiculous. The brilliance of La La Land's setting, soundtrack and performances should not be forgotten, it's just a shame it decided it needed to carry a message.