This movie is very polished, very lush, very bright and colourful. The vibe is a very flawless (aka unrealistic and stereotypical) LA with an old school undertone. I will excuse this completely unrealistic version of LA - since I gather they purposely made it this way to suit the old school undertone - and I can appreciate the creativity. It's also campy, but I don't mind a bit of that sometimes, especially if it's backed up by strong dialogue. Unfortunately, this film does not hit the mark in that regard.

I finally had a chance to see this movie today, and I had very high hopes, given all the awards and rave reviews. Ha! Talk about a let down! Sure, it's cute, but the storyline is "meh" and the dialogue isn't good enough to save it. It just lacks. I tuned out a bit about halfway through, but I stuck it out until the end. As others have mentioned, the ending is depressing. I guess I could see how someone would like this movie, since it is very stylish, but I prefer my movies with better writing. There's more interesting dialogue in superhero movies, for heaven's sake, and I hate superhero movies (again, all style and no substance). I am truly amazed by the high rating.

What kept going around in my head while watching this movie is how much better musicals were (back in their hey day) and how they were so good and wonderful, and how much this one sucked. They just don't make 'em like they used to.