Another movie about the American Dream - guy wants to be a musician, girl wants to be a hollywood actress - except its a musical and it excels in its lighthearted simplicity. The acting was a little high-school-drama-club but in a delightful way, as if the characters knew they were in a musical so they dialed down the seriousness a little. The set design was unconventional - all bright colors that just scream "HOLLYWOOD!" that you don't see in other movies anymore - but it worked, and it dared to try something new so I applaud the directors for that.

As the movie gradually takes a more serious turn, though, I couldn't help but feel like the school-production quality acting lost a bit of its intended charm. Just a little. The two protagonists meet, talk for like five minutes and then you're just bombarded with KISSING and KISSING and MORE KISSING - which is the entire personality of their relationship for the next hour until they have an argument over just the most trivial thing. It's not meant to be a serious movie, I know, but I can't help but feel like its cheerful lightheartedness borderlines on shallow artificiality sometimes.

As to judging the movie as a musical, its performance is by no means capital but it does alright. The actors aren't virtuosos, but they can somewhat hold a tune. And if you concentrate on the lyrics a little, you'll find that they were generally good. I say 'generally' because there was this one song about "oh how the lights in the city shine for me" that just made me want to die but everything else was okay. They used musical character and timing pretty effectively to communicate their message too.

Personally, I found the ending was a bit of a stretch though. No spoilers, but I don't really see why the options were mutually exclusive. Lowkey felt like the screenwriters conveniently just slotted it to make everything feel like it came full circle - and you're just forced to accept it as it is - but its something I'm willing to overlook.

But yeah. All in all don't regret watching this, but don't expect anything serious. However, do expect dancing, a uniquely colorful approach set design, and a storyline that pivots around the classical themes of dreams and Hollywood stardom that's simple and makes sense.

5/10.