Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench

I definitely sought this out because of a particular reason- Damian Chazelle and Whiplash. Whiplash is an amazing film, intense, full of passion, and so I wanted to see his debut. It's a solid debut, if unremarkable and sort of dull at times. It's very natural and there's really nothing that would indicate the strong intensity in Whiplash. The only similarities are really that instruments and music are at the core (just like, also, the film he co-wrote grand Piano). Yeah, I could see many not liking this at all or liking Whiplash, or even, liking this or not Whiplash because both are so different in style so there's no telling which way the passion will go. I recommend it slightly, but it's not totally recommended and not a home run by any means

Not a review, just wanted to saw that the user lalalandsucks writes the most hateful, poorly informed garbage I have ever had the misfortune of reading on this website.

Lalalandsucks shows that watching 3 YouTube videos about filmmaking and looking up the Wikipedia page of umbrellas of Cherbourg does not make you a competent film critic

Please delete your account.

Guy and Madeline was quite good and had some interesting moments , although I wouldn't be in a rush to watch it again.

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.

Damien Chazelle's feature film debut may not hold a candle to his subsequent films but it does showcase many of the themes & trademarks that he would go on to refine & perfect in his later works, especially the role of music in driving his narratives and his penchant for talented & ambitious protagonists. Not a memorable start by any means but a start nonetheless. And the creative leaps he's made since this film only speaks of his quick grasp & understanding of the filmmaking medium.

Damien Chazelle's debut feels somewhere between a Jim Jarmusch indie and an Astaire-Roger musical. Here's a filmmaker with a deep love of the movie musical trying to make it work on a shoestring budget. The musical genre begs for rich production, so Chazelle tries to circumvent it with a nontraditional script; the central relationship is told in undefined fragments and almost exclusively in the less-sexy aftermath of their love. The musical elements are instead used as flourishes - sometimes daydreams, sometimes as breaks from the story. It's a mess, but one with its charms.

Chazelle's directorial strength is in detail shots and closeups that evoke a tenderness and the vulnerability of the characters. The film excels in these little character moments far more than it does in telling a complete story. Despite Chazelle's decision not to build the characters from the ground up, every so often he strikes a deeply familiar chord with just a few well-executed shots that it becomes possible to connect to Guy, Madeline and Elena's emotions.

The centerpiece of the film though is Justin Hurwitz's score, which feels timeless yet not overly cliche and predictable. The quality of the music, including what was presumably Jason Palmer's (Guy) own trumpet playing, puts the score in a class that the movie's visual quality can't keep up with to the point that you might assume Chazelle just purchased or borrowed professional music.

It's always nice to see how a now-esteemed director pulled together a project with minimal resources. Chazelle wanted to tell a love story that married jazz and musicals and he finds a way to do it, even if the finished project is rough around the edges and a little defiant of mainstream tastes.