Launched on Boxing Day, La La Land came pre-packaged with hype and acclaim for its inventive take on musicals – which is exactly its problem.
It's a song-and-dance movie that's so "innovative" it features leads who can't really sing or dance.
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Behind the dazzle of 'La La Land'
'La La Land' choreographer Mandy Moore dishes on Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling's moves and the Academy Award favourite's massive dance numbers.
The film stars Ryan Gosling as Sebastian (an aspiring jazz musician) and Emma Stone as Mia (an aspiring actor) who are struggling to achieve their dreams in Los Angeles. But, as a friend pointed out, "The film is as flat as Ryan Gosling's feet".
While Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are so charming they could make a tax instruction video watchable, La La Land would have been better cast with actors who could properly sing (like Anna Kendrick) or dance (like Joseph Gordon-Levitt) – or better still, a triple-threat such as Justin Timberlake.
As writer Sam Twyford-Moore observes, Debbie Reynolds – a 19-year-old unknown with no performing experience – held her own against the legendary Gene Kelly in 1952's Singing in the Rain by practising non-stop for three months before shooting. On set, she danced until her feet literally bled.
In La La Land, the leads awkwardly shuffle and fling their limbs – there's no exhilarating sense of wonder at seeing performers achieve near-impossible movements.
Of course, it doesn't help that this musical lacks memorable dances and songs.
The only "memorable" track is the one featuring the "City of stars/are you shining just for me?" line and merely because Ryan Gosling sings it over and over again – it sticks in your head through ad-jingle-like repetition, not because it's a strikingly original song. Besides, aren't they basically lyrics from a Coldplay song?
![Not the cinematic experience expected by Lee Tran Lam.](/web/20170106225141im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/a/1/8/p/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtmpll.png/1483733825352.jpg)
La La Land also has a blind spot about race.
As musician Rostam Batmanglij tweeted, the idea of a white man "saving" jazz (as Ryan Gosling's Sebastian aims to do) is questionable and the film's only black character of note, Keith (John Legend) is depicted as a sellout for wanting to do something vaguely modern with jazz. Apparently adding some synths and back-up dancers makes you a sellout!
![It's modern day LA people: Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in <i>La La Land</i>.](/web/20170106225141im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/m/p/m/5/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtmpll.png/1483733825352.jpg)
Batmanglij also questioned why there were no gay characters in La La Land. This seems bizarre (and out of step) for a musical set in LA in 2016.
Seeing how keenly the film romanticises the past, perhaps it's unsurprising that it resembles a relic. What are Mia's acting inspirations? Notorious, Casablanca and Bringing up Baby (all made before 1947). Their first date? A 1950s film screening.
![No Debbie Reynold and Gene Kelly: Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling put on their dancing shoes for <i>La La Land</i>.](/web/20170106225141im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/9/8/i/q/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtmpll.png/1483733825352.jpg)
And Sebastian's fixation with long-dead jazz greats sparks this spot-on criticism via John Legend's Keith: "You're so obsessed with Kenny Clarke and Thelonious Monk. Those guys were revolutionaries. How are you gonna be a revolutionary if you're such a traditionalist?"
With brief exceptions (a YouTube clip, some smartphone calls and Mia's Prius), La La Land weirdly refuses to acknowledge its 2016 setting.
![Can't dance as good as the greats? Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in <i>La La Land</i>.](/web/20170106225141im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/m/p/m/8/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gtmpll.png/1483733825352.jpg)
The most "modern" music in the film (besides a cameo by Keith's band, The Messengers) is Take on Me by A-Ha.
Two key plot points hinge on characters forgetting dates for something important – as if no one has heard of a diary (or has iCal on their phones). Mia tries to make herself known to agents by staging a one-woman show that hardly anyone sees. (In any other film set last year, she would have gotten her big break via a YouTube viral hit).
The film is so besotted with the past that it "reeks of mothballs", says critic Rex Reed.
So what explains La La Land's near-universal praise, best-of list appearances and multiple film awards (105, at last count – and that's before the Oscar nominations have even been announced)?
Is it because it's indulgent cinephile-bait? It rewards in-the-know critics, but really it's the Pokemon Go of movie references: See how many self-congratulatory film allusions you can collect. (Funny Face, An American in Paris, and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg are among the many titles it pays tribute to).
But for a musical obsessed with classics, it unfortunately comes across as a pale imitation of the greats it tries to imitate. Gosling swings by a lamppost, like in Singin' in the Rain, but has none of the unstoppable exuberance of Gene Kelly splashing through a downpour, soggy shoes be damned.
Despite this, it will win best picture at the Oscars.
It's about the magic of artistry and Hollywood – and as past wins for The Artist, Birdman and Argo prove – the Academy cannot resist patting itself on the back.
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