This is a delightful, melancholy film which starts out with an amazing musical number in a traffic jam in Los Angeles before we meet the main characters: Jazz pianist Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and aspiring actress and lackluster barista Mia Dolan (Emma Stone). The first part is told first from her point of view and then from his. He struggles to find steady work as he wants to play traditional jazz, not the crappy playlist he is given and she kills it in auditions but the casting director is more concerned with what sandwich she should eat that day. Then, after her car is towed away, she hears his music and just can't walk away, too bad he's too pissed to care about an admirer.
Fortunately, they meet again, Mia doing her best to get Sebastian to notice her and this time, it works though he isn't thrilled about the whole thing and this time Mia's got a boyfriend, Greg (Finn Wittrock) though that ends and for a few months, she and Sebastian have that super cute relationship that you only see in movies, something that every girl, including myself, wants and wishes for. Of course, problems arise as they are broke and have sort of conflicting dreams but soon Sebastian is touring with this modern jazzy band led by his friend Keith (John Legend) from college and Mia is writing her one-woman show though that flops upon opening. This ends the relationship as she feels that he sold out by touring with The Messengers, she returns home though soon somehow Sebastian gets the call from a casting director who wants to meet with Mia so he drives to her hometown and drives her back for the audition. Which she nails and her film career is launched, only their relationship remains over. The film is in Paris and Sebastian still has that contract. The film flashes forward five years, each living their dream, Sebastian opening his own authentic jazz lounge and Mia is famous, but is married to someone else (Tom Everett Scott).
As they once again lock eyes in a jazz club, you see an alternate history, one where Sebastian doesn't brush off Mia's admiration and instead embraces them, in this one, they live out their dreams, at least Mia does, you don't know exactly if Sebastian does or not and they end up together, happy, linking arms at the club, instead of space between Mia and her husband at Sebastian's club. But that isn't what really happened, and you're left wondering which path would be better for Sebastian and Mia.
Though the story is excellent, told with sweeping long shots and superb mise-en-scene (the set decoration and costumes, everything the camera captures), the musical numbers are also great. Gosling may not be the best singer or dancer (in fact, his singing is probably the weakest part of the film), he kills it playing the piano though Stone easily out dances the crap out of him. But they deliver outstanding performances and deserve every award they get and so much more. This film is inspired by the old musicals of Hollywood's Golden Era and makes that genre new and fresh. People clapped at the end of this film in the theatre, something that hasn't happened in some time. And it was well deserved. This film will be remembered and celebrated, and has little to complain about and those things can be overlooked. Though Hollywood's Golden Era has long since past, this film could herald in the next Golden Age of Hollywood Musicals. Grade: A
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