La La Land- Oscar Front-Running

La La Land tries on for size the 1950's musical score in the Los Angeles of today. There are impressive musical numbers, but the performances of Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling carry this thing. It's impressive to watch them dance, sing, act, and play through the variety of numbers and scenes this movie demands of them. Stone is an aspiring actress who can't get the role to propel her into stardom. Gosling is a jazz "purist" who can't simple play piano for someone else because he has his own songs, ideas, and style. He wants to open his own jazz club, but is only a few hundred thousand dollars short of that. They meet a few times, but finally connect at a pool party that Gosling is playing keyboard at, despite his hatred for it. He realizes that you can only stand by your ideals for so long without breaking down since ideals don't pay the bills. The movie follows their love story and careers. I originally was a little annoyed by the volume of musical numbers early on in the film, but the story unfolds with acting and normal talking instead of singing, so I got back into it. It's obvious why the Oscar buzz is strong. It's visually beautiful and has two incredible performances in Gosling and Stone. It holds up well and I was pleasantly surprised with it overall. Bottom Line: 8.7 out of 10. I realize this means I rank John Wick 2 ahead of the film most likely to win Best Film, but realize I am a flawed movie critic and I love watching Keanu Reeves run through a crew of killers more than watching a freeway musical dance number break out. Deal with it.