La La Land : Singing and Dancing Not Good

I liked the movie -8/10, but it could have been much better. Gosling and Stone are actors - not musical theater actors. As a result, their singing and especially their dancing was below the level expected in a musical. I also was disappointed in the muddled sound during the first long-take freeway scene. This was a nice movie that could have been better with better singing and dancing and better audio in that first scene.

The first scene had several extras "singing" and I'm pretty sure they filmed it silent since the LA highways are incredibly loud

any fans of this film would agree that neither lead actor is known for their singing and dancing skills however for me, that was part of the charm. First, I thought their singing and dancing exceeded my expectations. Second, the story and the songs did not need an overwhelming voice or flying feet.

I do agree that there were several lyrics from the opening number that I had a difficult time understanding the first time I saw the film.

If you enjoy musicals you should check out Sing Street. I think it is the best film of 2016.

As Ryan Gosling had been a Mouseketeer, it would seem that he should have some singing & dancing skills. After all, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera were his fellow Mouseketeers.

Boo Hoo! Let me wipe away the tears with my PLASTIC hand!Lindsey McDonald (Angel)

I'll agree with you about the singing. I thought the singing was heartfelt, and really enjoyed Emma's voice. The quality of her voice is good, what she needs is more confidence in her vocal training. I feel Gosling also put everything he could into his voice, but he may need some coaching to modulate the pitch so it doesn't sound reedy, which in a man's voice may put off some people.

My ONLY really criticism of the film was the choreography. At the beginning of the movie it was either just sloppy, or incredibly silly. The freeway scene was a great concept, it was just too chaotic, and the dress scene and pool party were just silly (sorry, no other word to describe it) although in an after-movie video the same scene shown from above was much more interesting.

The choreography really does comes together, though, when Ryan and Emma are dancing in a more traditional style (after we're done with the Griffith Park number).

All in all, a good show, and I definitely would recommend others to see it.

I saw emma stone live on Broadway in cabaret and her singing was better at that than in La La Land. But I wasn't a fan of her singing in this movie.

If you want really good dancing, I highly recommend West Side Story, which IMHO has the best movie dancing by the ensembles. Eliot Feld, who created the Eliot Feld Ballet, was Baby John, and of course there was Russ Tamblyn. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers has some pretty good dancing as well, as one of the brothers is the New York City Ballet star Jacques D'Amboise and Russ Tamblyn is another. On the Town, which stars Gene Kelly, Ann Miller (one of the two greatest female tap dancers in the movies), and Vera-Ellen, who was a ballerina, offers some great dancing. Ann Miller has a couple of great numbers in Kiss Me, Kate. I honestly believe that movie musicals aren't what they used to be. Also there was Gene Nelson in Oklahoma and some other movies, Marge & Gower Champion in Show Boat, Cyd Charisse in almost anything she has done. Oh, yes, An American in Paris, with the wonderful Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron, who is also a ballerina.

Boo Hoo! Let me wipe away the tears with my PLASTIC hand!Lindsey McDonald (Angel)

West Side Story is remarkable and iconic. A musical.

In my opinion, LaLA Land isn't a musical per se but a story, a dramedy with music. That's one of the reasons singers with overpowering voices would have been out of place. The music here is the backstory to the dialog of the actotsr

I kinda liked that their dancing wasaverage. They were good, but not draw dropping, made em feel grounded in a extremely whimsical first half
I dunno anymore. Either their acting more then made up for it.

I get the idea that the director wanted the characters to appear "real". But Gosling's bland singing ("City of Stars for example) underwhelmed me. Emma Stone was only slightly better. I didn't want opera singers but the characters could still have been genuine if they had better voices and better dancing ability. I still liked the movie 8/10, but it could have been much much better

i loved his dancing. maybe not the best pure dancer around, but surely at the top of dancing ability by major actors.

and i loved their singing: human and heartfelt.

i was also impressed by gosling's piano playing (i believe i've read it was him playing).

Not necessarily. Another musician recorded the piano tacks and the "Baby Goose" plays along visually - like lip-synching - only with piano playing.

The fact that this kid thinks Ryan had a "piano hand double" literally has me cry laughing.


Less than forget. But more than begun.

I'm pretty sure strumdatjag is right. Ryan did not have a hand double, everything you see in the movie was him. BUT what we hear is a professional pianist and Ryan is doing the equivalent of lip-syncing, but with piano. With only a few months of training I doubt he'd be able to play those difficult numbers perfectly enough for the soundtrack. According to this article they were played by a pianist called Randy Kerber:

A piano teacher is included in the credits. Ryan Gosling piano-synched very well. My wife is a piano teacher and agreed that he made the playing look real, which was one of the better things in the movie.