Josh:
I was rooting for Chazelle, against all odds, but while his ahistorical, anachronistic Hollywood epic is undeniably ambitious, it’s also a complete mess, exemplified by the bathetic emotional swings it takes and its desperate stabs at profundity amid the headache-inducing, frenetic mayhem, and the only sequence where the whirlwind style really works is the first visit to the Kinescope lot, but by then it had already squandered a lot of my good will with that atrocious party scene. ⏰⏰
Steph:
I have a thing for movies that really go for it, for movies that try to unnerve the audience through spectacle and carefully choreographed haphazardness, but this film about filmmaking—while ambitious—doesn’t quite come together ultimately, though there’s plenty to praise it for, including—and perhaps most importantly—Margot Robbie’s compelling performance and carrying of the entire 3-hour film (no offense Tobey Maguire). ⏰⏰⏰
The Bare Minimum 