I went to this movie with reasonable, but not overly high expectations, and in the end it was a pleasant enough time. But to suggest this is a great movie is astonishing!

It is a musical that looks back nostalgically to earlier great musicals. But the leads can't sing, can't dance, can act a little! (pardon the reference - it seemed in keeping)

Equally bad, there are no songs of any worth in the whole movie.

The lead actor is a jazz purist who is willing to put put his life in turmoil to live out his dream of playing real jazz. Instead, everyone around him plays excellent jazz, and he plays nothing but a very undernourished pop song.

On a positive note, the opening scene was a gas. Superficial, yes, but really fun and impressive with its long tracking shot. It gave me hope for the rest of the movie, but that was the end of anything of any worth.

The complete split of opinion between this being a great movie, and it being a very ordinary one is bizarre. Best Picture? Really? Have people not been going to anything else this year. There have been some absolutely wonderful movies this year.

I do not understand at all. Perhaps it is because I love musicals and watch them a lot that I have something to compare it to. I don't know. But I have never been more confused.