The hype drew us in to see the new film La La Land, it was a musical they said to rival South Pacific or any of the Rodgers and Hammerstein greats from the golden age of Broadway in the 1940s and 50s.
To say we were disappointed is an understatement. There was one catchy little tune of nostalgic romance, there was some competent jazz, but nothing, absolutely nothing, to rejoice over. The tap-dancing was tentative, not a patch on Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, but just enough to echo their era.
The story line was thin, but that could be forgiven perhaps. Instead of the happy denouement we would have once expected, it needed a rather contrived flash-back at the end to cheer us up into what might have been, only to drop us into the cold light of a socially acceptable marriage. It certainly did not leave me walking on air as one critic enthused.
Am I a grumpy old man? There are a quite a few of us then who feel we have been sold a pup. I was all for walking out half-time as some of my acquaintances did. But we stayed and emerged into the dark wondering how this film-with-music came to be so highly rated.
But don't let me put you off!
