Looking at all the promotional material for Damien Chazelle’s La La Land was bothering me. Not because I thought it looked bad but it kept reminding me of something but I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what. Then this morning it hit me.
In 1996 Woody Allen wrote and directed a great musical called Everyone Says I Love You. The premise is random people dealing with everyday problems but through song. To convey this idea he cast actors who weren’t great singers like Edward Norton, Julia Roberts, Tim Roth and himself. None of them can sing and that’s why it works. Goldie Hawn however can sing and delivers the final romantic number beautifully. So much so that Allen had to ask her to sing worse to keep within the concept of his movie.
The song was made famous by Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot, perhaps the funniest film ever made. Everyone Says I Love You may not match it but I do recommend it for the concept, the style and sweet musical numbers like this.
