”This is the dream.”
“This is not your dream.”
A film that’s grown on me with time and multiple viewings even though its problems have never gone away. Early in his career, Damien Chazelle didn’t have the time and money for a Hollywood polish. Instead the film has rough indie charm. Much of the film still has the rough edges of a director learning his craft. Small moments, like an extra dancer who’s distracting because he looks too old and is overdoing the clapping compared to everyone else in the opening number. The pool dive which needs an invisible cut so we can see the dancers through the water-smudged lens. Scenes that end with lengthy holds on a character, letting out the fizz.
The same songwriting team of Pasek and Paul also did The Greatest Showman, and those musical numbers have robust vocals and are staged with a lot more pizazz. The first woman who first sings in the first song is almost squeaky like a mouse. Ryan Gosling is so timid he’s a step above mumbling. He and Emma Stone do fine as dancers, but Stone’s voice again is lacking, though I’m curious to know for sure if that’s a deliberate choice with her because there is a scene late in the film that contradicts that.
I wouldn’t even say that Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone have natural chemistry, but they’re strong enough actors that they make it work, and Chazelle has plenty of ideas to create memorable moments. My biggest problem that’s faded over time is that a film billed as a musical is just as much a plea for jazz appreciation. That’s fine now that I know, just like I now get that musically, Chazelle was aiming more for Jacques Demy than Jerome Robbins.
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