After watching this movie in early 2021 on DVD, I was puzzled by its very high IMDb rating. With more than half a million ratings, "La La Land" had an average of 8.0. I am a long-time fan of musicals of all varieties, so the high rating of this film seems strange. How could so many people think this film is equal to the best musicals of all time? Do they really think it is better than all but a few musicals? Musicals with a dozen or more songs? With hit tunes? With great compositions by famous composers? With singing by the best and most popular singers? With dance numbers and choreography by the greatest hoofers of all time?
"La La Land" has a total of six songs. The great musicals have 10 to 18 songs. Can anyone name a single hit tune from this movie? Can anyone even remember one of the songs? Did either of the leads record any of the songs -- Ryan Gosling or Emma Stone? Are either of them known for their singing or recording? Does either one have a hit record? Are there any known dancers in this film?
I have seen way more than 200 musicals, and most of them were better than "La La Land." So, when I watched this film, it struck me that most of the people who rated it just hadn't seen many musicals. Surely none of the great ones of the past. And that would mean that they have little to compare with what little music, singing and dancing there is in this movie. So, perhaps it's a sign of the times. Perhaps there aren't such gifted musicians and singers and dancers that past decades had. Or, it might be an indication of how starved modern audiences are for quality entertainment.
But there are a couple other possibilities for why this movie is rated so high. The first is the sentimental romance story. Modern people may be starved for good entertainment in the area of romance and love with the technology overload of the 21st century. And, then there is the "sale" of Los Angeles itself - including Hollywood and related sights. The publicity says from the start that this movie is a celebration of L. A. And, it shows a glamorized city, all clean and neat and without blemish. One wonders how many of the ratings for this movie came from the movie capital itself - from the 13 million people of the Los Angeles area, or the 24 million of southern California.
It's not hard to imagine that a real propaganda film for the movie capital of the world, got high marks from its own area. And, that some others who thought it a smashing musical are among a population that doesn't know the great musicals of the past and/or that is starved for really great musical talent and entertainment. Adding all of that together is probably the basis for the high rating of this movie. I would wager that after separating out all the ratings of this movie that came from Southern California, the resulting average from the rest of the country - however large or small the number, would not be higher than 7.0, and would probably be closer to 6.5 or lower. There probably are a lot of 10 ratings from the Los Angeles environs, and many 7, 6 and lower ratings from the rest of the country.
I'm not trashing the acting of Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone or any of the rest of the cast of this film. They were good to very good. But none of them are accomplished singers or dancers. While a couple of the choreographed larger dance scenes are good, they are more acrobatic with modern dance, than anything like the footwork of the great talents in films of the past. This film has nothing to compare to Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Gene Nelson, Ginger Rogers, Eleanor Powell or dozens more actors who also could sing and dance.
With so many reviews already, I'm just weighing in to apprise younger audiences who enjoy musicals of all kinds, about some of the truly great musicals of the past. Here's a short list of films everyone should enjoy. For starters, there are three wonderful films from the 1930s - "Top Hat" of 1935, "Show Boat" of 1936, and "The Wizard of Oz" of 1939. The last one was in color. Color would take over after "Broadway Melody of 1940" and following the war years. The 1940s included top hits such as "Blue Skies" of 1946 with a dozen Irving Berlin tunes and Fred Astaire's debut of "Puttin' on the Ritz," and "Easter Parade" of 1948 with Judy Garland and Astaire. The 1950s were dynamite years for great musicals - "On Moonlight Bay" of 1951, "Singin' in the Rain" of 1952 with Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds, "The Glenn Miller Story" of 1954, "White Christmas" of 1954 with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, and three of the greatest Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals - "Oklahoma" of 1955, "The King and I" of 1956, and "South Pacific" of 1958. The 1960s had such great musicals as "Westside Story" of 1961, "My Fair Lady" and "Mary Poppins" of 1964, "The Sound of Music" of 1965, and "Hello Dolly" of 1969.
And, although the interest in musicals had waned by the 1960s, every decade has had several musical films made - some of them great films. The musical still has a considerable fan base, especially those with great music, dancing, choreography and plots. So, among later smashing musicals are "Fiddler on the Roof" 1971, "Amadeus" of 1984, "Newsies" of 1992, "Immortal Beloved" of 1994, "Chicago" of 2002, "Phantom of the Operate" of 2004, and "Les Misérables" of 2012.
"La La Land" has a total of six songs. The great musicals have 10 to 18 songs. Can anyone name a single hit tune from this movie? Can anyone even remember one of the songs? Did either of the leads record any of the songs -- Ryan Gosling or Emma Stone? Are either of them known for their singing or recording? Does either one have a hit record? Are there any known dancers in this film?
I have seen way more than 200 musicals, and most of them were better than "La La Land." So, when I watched this film, it struck me that most of the people who rated it just hadn't seen many musicals. Surely none of the great ones of the past. And that would mean that they have little to compare with what little music, singing and dancing there is in this movie. So, perhaps it's a sign of the times. Perhaps there aren't such gifted musicians and singers and dancers that past decades had. Or, it might be an indication of how starved modern audiences are for quality entertainment.
But there are a couple other possibilities for why this movie is rated so high. The first is the sentimental romance story. Modern people may be starved for good entertainment in the area of romance and love with the technology overload of the 21st century. And, then there is the "sale" of Los Angeles itself - including Hollywood and related sights. The publicity says from the start that this movie is a celebration of L. A. And, it shows a glamorized city, all clean and neat and without blemish. One wonders how many of the ratings for this movie came from the movie capital itself - from the 13 million people of the Los Angeles area, or the 24 million of southern California.
It's not hard to imagine that a real propaganda film for the movie capital of the world, got high marks from its own area. And, that some others who thought it a smashing musical are among a population that doesn't know the great musicals of the past and/or that is starved for really great musical talent and entertainment. Adding all of that together is probably the basis for the high rating of this movie. I would wager that after separating out all the ratings of this movie that came from Southern California, the resulting average from the rest of the country - however large or small the number, would not be higher than 7.0, and would probably be closer to 6.5 or lower. There probably are a lot of 10 ratings from the Los Angeles environs, and many 7, 6 and lower ratings from the rest of the country.
I'm not trashing the acting of Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone or any of the rest of the cast of this film. They were good to very good. But none of them are accomplished singers or dancers. While a couple of the choreographed larger dance scenes are good, they are more acrobatic with modern dance, than anything like the footwork of the great talents in films of the past. This film has nothing to compare to Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Gene Nelson, Ginger Rogers, Eleanor Powell or dozens more actors who also could sing and dance.
With so many reviews already, I'm just weighing in to apprise younger audiences who enjoy musicals of all kinds, about some of the truly great musicals of the past. Here's a short list of films everyone should enjoy. For starters, there are three wonderful films from the 1930s - "Top Hat" of 1935, "Show Boat" of 1936, and "The Wizard of Oz" of 1939. The last one was in color. Color would take over after "Broadway Melody of 1940" and following the war years. The 1940s included top hits such as "Blue Skies" of 1946 with a dozen Irving Berlin tunes and Fred Astaire's debut of "Puttin' on the Ritz," and "Easter Parade" of 1948 with Judy Garland and Astaire. The 1950s were dynamite years for great musicals - "On Moonlight Bay" of 1951, "Singin' in the Rain" of 1952 with Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds, "The Glenn Miller Story" of 1954, "White Christmas" of 1954 with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, and three of the greatest Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals - "Oklahoma" of 1955, "The King and I" of 1956, and "South Pacific" of 1958. The 1960s had such great musicals as "Westside Story" of 1961, "My Fair Lady" and "Mary Poppins" of 1964, "The Sound of Music" of 1965, and "Hello Dolly" of 1969.
And, although the interest in musicals had waned by the 1960s, every decade has had several musical films made - some of them great films. The musical still has a considerable fan base, especially those with great music, dancing, choreography and plots. So, among later smashing musicals are "Fiddler on the Roof" 1971, "Amadeus" of 1984, "Newsies" of 1992, "Immortal Beloved" of 1994, "Chicago" of 2002, "Phantom of the Operate" of 2004, and "Les Misérables" of 2012.