Average in every way and maybe a little unique but not worthy of the acclaim

Rating: 5/10 (2 May 2017)

To me, the Oscars nowadays means that the critics all got together and decided to play a popularity contest that quite often the mainstream movie going public doesn't see eye to eye with. I love musicals...like adore them...so I was excited for LaLa Land and so I was disappointed and confused by the fact that it did not come close to fulfilling expectations. I will say there were a couple of scenes that were very well done. The film has a unique vibe that is timeless and some of the dance and music scenes are reminiscent of an era gone by. It is definitely an artistic film. However, the story and the characters and the climax of the film is utterly and completely bland. It's not the type of film I could watch more than once and I don't understand how it is even classified as a musical when it had very few blatant musical numbers and it felt like it was more about jazz or "LaLa Land" itself than the music. The hardest part to accept was the lack of chemistry with the stars and just the overall lack of a solid story to hold onto.
Emma Stone is notable for this film because she is Emma Stone. She has an undeniable chemistry on screen and it always works at least a little bit. Still her struggling character actress is okay at best and she never really goes through any arc at all and you're left feeling very underwhelmed. Ryan Gosling honestly is downright terrible. I don't know if it's the writing or what but his character is vapid and empty and boring. Their "romance" is silly and contrived and it never takes off despite them trying desperately to make you root for these two. Somehow the "music" brings them together and their love of the arts. There is some supporting cast but honestly no one comes even close to being memorable or stepping up to anything. It's overall a very large disappointment.
If the film was just a few dance scenes with Gosling and Stone I might be inclined to love it but unfortunately they make you sit through a sub-par story first. I guess the choreography and some of the scenes are worth noting. The thing is I adore writer and director Damien Chazelle. Whiplash was literally incredible. Easily one of the best films of the year. I had such high hopes this would be more of the same and I get the art behind it and the neon glow and the story of Los Angeles and struggling artists but there is no meat here. There is nothing that captivates you and a film that won all kinds of awards and (nearly) won Best Picture is barely memorable. Film schools might study it but for me once is enough. 5/10