La La Land
Bob McCully

Review by Bob McCully Patron

La La Land 2016

★★

Watched 15 Jan 2017

I don't get it.

Maybe it's because I'm not really a fan of musicals, but I also don't think the majority of you are either and yet all I am seeing are 4 and 5 stars all over the net.

There's a lot of effective moments and the acting is okay but this story feels passionless to me. "Whiplash" was a thriller dripping in struggle and catharsis. "La La Land" seems to be about struggle... but... it's the most empty/easy struggle I have seen in film in such a long time.

Don't even get me started with the music. While I am thankful it wasn't pure cringe-y GLEE-era BS, it was instead mediocre and too light on the hooks and motifs to really take me anywhere.

This film is lacking guts and I have no idea why they made this or who this is for. I'm really surprised how much people are loving this film.

I honestly went in with an open-mind, I try not to be a cynical person as much as I can, but there was no click moment. This never worked for me and I was never put under its spell.

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