Review: The Eddy
Damien Chazelle, the Oscar-winning director behind the 2016 musical film La La Land, is back with a Netflix series about musicians in Paris.
But those hoping for a sequel of sorts (Ooh La La Land?) are in for a shock.
This is not the romantic City of Lights, but grim, urban and shot handheld, possibly by a cameraman with low blood sugar - it is that shaky.
The Eddy is a club where musicians gather for passion more than money, so it is not the hottest club in town.
It is so dour that any happiness seems to provoke fate.
Everyone is struggling with something - money, drugs, family, gangs, loan sharks, life - and the music is an escape.
Each episode centres on a character, leading with Elliot (Moonlight's Andre Holland), the US virtuoso who rejected the big time to run The Eddy in the graffiti-plastered outskirts of Paris.
The drama is not as tightly structured as the extended music sequences.
While the tension of Elliot searching for his missing daughter (Amandla Stenberg) is edge-of-seat, some scenes just seem to circle aimlessly.
Like jazz, The Eddy may not appeal to everyone. But every so often, it hits the right note.
RATED: R21
SCORE: 3/5 stars
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