After loving both Whiplash and La La Land more than just about any movie that came out in the respective years they were released, I looked through Chazelle's filmography, keen to watch more. First Man was a pretty good follow-up, but finding another music-related film, that was apparently a musical? And had great reviews? I tried to keep my expectations tempered because of the tiny budget and the fact that it was something of a student film, but even then... finally getting around to this proved disappointing.
There's technically a story here about young people falling in and out and then maybe in love again, but it's weak, and the characters fail to make an impression. I love his other movies because Chazelle has an uncanny ability to make you understand the passion the characters feel towards whatever they're doing. Here, I didn't get that. The acting didn't seem awful, and neither was the cinematography or music... it's just that none of it elevated a mostly non-existent story, and I neither cared nor really understood what was going on.
For something haphazard and with a tiny budget, it's not awful. If it were a student film, it'd probably get a decent mark. But now that he's made such a name for himself, I think it's going to be difficult for new viewers to approach this movie and find it genuinely enjoyable. I can say this though: it's made me appreciate his other films all the more, because the improvement present from this to Whiplash and La La Land is staggering.
I could only suggest this movie to diehard fans, and even then, not too enthusiastically. Gives you a good idea of where Chazelle started, and the themes of his later films are sort of present here, which is neat- they're just less compelling and not as effectively explored.
There's technically a story here about young people falling in and out and then maybe in love again, but it's weak, and the characters fail to make an impression. I love his other movies because Chazelle has an uncanny ability to make you understand the passion the characters feel towards whatever they're doing. Here, I didn't get that. The acting didn't seem awful, and neither was the cinematography or music... it's just that none of it elevated a mostly non-existent story, and I neither cared nor really understood what was going on.
For something haphazard and with a tiny budget, it's not awful. If it were a student film, it'd probably get a decent mark. But now that he's made such a name for himself, I think it's going to be difficult for new viewers to approach this movie and find it genuinely enjoyable. I can say this though: it's made me appreciate his other films all the more, because the improvement present from this to Whiplash and La La Land is staggering.
I could only suggest this movie to diehard fans, and even then, not too enthusiastically. Gives you a good idea of where Chazelle started, and the themes of his later films are sort of present here, which is neat- they're just less compelling and not as effectively explored.