La La Land (2016)

  This was the movie of 2016, between the Oscar controversy and the fawning over Damien Chazelle as Hollywood's wunderkind, and I have to say I don't think it lives up to the hype.

Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is a struggling jazz pianist obsessed with maintaining the purity of what he feels is a dying art.  Mia (Emma Stone) is a struggling actress.  They meet in the claustrophobic world of the Hollywood scene several times before finally acknowledging their mutual attraction.  From there, it plays out like a typical romantic drama as his career takes off while hers seems to stagnate.

This film is supposed to recall the old Golden Age Hollywood musicals, which it mimics in breathless adoration.  Many of the songs fall completely flat, however, and don't fit the framework of the story.  You could cut all of them out and still have a serviceable romantic drama.  It's really only noteworthy for the subversion of the ending, which **SPOILER ALERT** sees the two main characters not end up together.  **END SPOILER**  Even still, the audience can get that same dopamine rush during the final, instrumental number which acts as a fantasy sequence.

Let me be clear, since this is starting to look like a hatchet job, there's nothing really wrong or bad in the movie.  It's just not the greatest thing since sliced bread and it's certainly not the paeon to 1950s glamour it was made out to be.