BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Vonia 3/3 Damien Chazelle films for me. Tap dancing and jazz at its finest. The youngest director to win an Academy Award for "La La Land" and first discovered by most with his sophomore film, "Whiplash", this is his debut from when he was still attending Harvard University. This reminds me considerably of John Carney's "Once". A heartfelt, character driven, low budget musical that has the inklings of a true artist about to inevitably succeed in the mainstream, refining their craft slowly but surely. It should be appreciated even more for this, for their later award winning masterpieces will be far more influenced by Hollywood. Nothing much happens, but that is perfectly fine- because it is focused on the exceptional score and soundtrack. Cherish it.

geoff-367 I'll start with full disclosure: this review is based on the first 30 minutes of this movie, because that's as much time as I was willing to waste on it. When the girl started singing--not quite in tune--I gave up.This movie is all about being pretentious--the filmmakers, not the characters. The jerky hand-held camera work is just trying to be cool; it does nothing for the film. The same goes for the lack of dialog, the random dance numbers (filmed so you can't see the dancers' feet), the disconnected storytelling, the grainy black-and-white look, and of course the ultimate I'm-so-hip posing of hiring an ultra-cheap symphony orchestra to provide a score. ("Look at me! I've heard of Bratislava! I'm so much better than all you people who think Boston musicians are just fine!) Save your money. Or go see the latest Chipmunks movie; at least that's schlock with a plot.

jotix100 Damien Chazelle, the director of this film, was clearly influenced by some of the French New Wave directors, particularly, Jean-Luc Godard, as well as others, but it is obvious he likes that period. His style gives the viewer a feeling of being somewhat improvisational as he takes his camera into the Boston streets to illustrate the story he wanted to tell. The film shot in black and white takes the viewer to another era when movies were perhaps more spontaneous and without a rigid story line."Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench" is easy to take, but after a while, one wonders what did Mr. Chazelle had in mind. It is clear the director is more concerned on the style and look he wanted to give the finished product rather than the substance of the story. It is a simple tale about love between two young people. He is a black trumpet player and she is a waitress. Their romance does not last long. Guy goes after other women and Madeline wanders aimlessly through the streets of the city. Eventually, as if fated, the lovers will come back together.It is easy to see Damian Chazelle has talent and it would be interesting to hope he will do better next time. He succeeds in the choice of music one hears in the background. Jason Palmer's Guy is a pleasant young man who probably expected more of his involvement with Madeline. Desiree Garcia, on the other hand, makes a wonderful introspective case of her Madeline.

hlmrw100 Save yourself the time and trouble as this is more of a "first-year film student" type of picture. It was painful to watch and my first was reaction was "that was 90 minutes of my life I'll never get back." I should have gone with my first impression and walked out after the first ten minutes. There is basically no plot to speak of, very poor cinematography, no character development, poor acting all around and generally no redeeming qualities to speak of. There were some great opportunities to show some of the more interesting sights and sounds of Boston. However to film instead chooses to show irrelevant close-ups of the actors for no apparent reason. The sound mixing and quality is very "unusual" to say the least and you may want to consider bringing your ear-muffs. The picture qualify is even less finished. There was perhaps one sequence in the entire film which would be considered big screen worthy, that of restaurant dancing/singing number. Overall, one of the worst movies I have ever seen.