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Mia和Seb都是“懂”的人——一位是看老电影长大，为自己写复古独角戏，却也不得不为了TV Show反复试镜，又反复遭受打击的咖啡店员；一位是离群索居，在餐厅弹着Jingle Bells讨生活，心里却念着守卫Pure Jazz的“严肃音乐人”。他们如此过活，是因为他们的“选择”，或者说，别无选择。
也正是因为“懂”，他们很快认出了彼此——Mia因为听到Seb的琴声走进餐厅，Seb也一眼识破了Mia点的“挑衅”。之后，便是顺理成章的感情升温，Mia告诉Seb自己如何与表演结缘，并喜欢在片场附近工作，Seb给Mia讲述Jazz中的冲突与妥协，和自己关于Jazz Club的理想。在一场以research为名约的电影中，两人十指相扣，故事也随着他们在繁星中的舞蹈抵达第一个高潮。
如果说在生活中“分享甜蜜”，是二人爱情世界的第一个阶段，那么，在事业上“互相支持”，则是他们爱情的第二个阶段。然而，支持往往是伴着迁就甚至牺牲的。
在Seb的鼓励下，Mia重新拾笔，为自己写了一部独角戏(One Woman Show)。Seb作为理所当然的第一位观众，看后赞不绝口，称Mia为天才。Mia担心自己的剧过于复古，Seb则觉得这恰恰是重点所在。
Seb: Genius!
Mia: Really?
Seb: Yes!
Mia: It feels really nostalgic to me.
Seb: That's the point!
Mia: Are people gonna like it?
Seb: Fuck them.
Seb则坚持着自己Jazz Club的理想，拒绝了昔日同学Keith乐队的要约，称自己“Never been better”。Mia也为Seb的俱乐部设计了一个LOGO，叫“Seb's”。然而，Seb认为还是叫“Chicken Steak”更好，因为Charlie Parker喜欢吃鸡肉，别人都叫他“大鸟”。而且，俱乐部的选址一定要在Van Beek，这个一系列知名爵士乐队都表演过，现在却在表演桑巴的地方——他不能对此坐视不理。
这一晚，两人在床上憧憬着俱乐部顺利开启，以及Mia在她的独角戏上一炮走红。然而，对外界评价毫不在意，用一句“Fuck them”回答Mia顾虑的Seb似乎还没有发现，他有了Mia，有了动力，有了铠甲，却也有了软肋。早上，听到Mia和她妈妈的电话，看看漏水的屋顶，Seb决定去Keith的乐队当键盘手。
由于理念的不同，Seb与Keith的第一次合练并不顺利，不过Seb最终还是跟Keith签订了合同。第一次演出，Mia到场当观众，当灯光点亮，Keith开口，Mia知道，这并不是Seb喜爱的音乐。同样作为理想主义者的Mia也意识到，Seb正在背离自己的理想，向现实妥协。
接连的巡演让Seb和Mia聚少离多，而此刻，Mia也正为了自己的独角戏做最后的筹备。在距离演出还有两周的一个晚上，Seb悄悄飞回LA，为Mia准备了一顿烛光晚餐作为惊喜。然而，各自为理想奔波却又渴望陪伴的他们发生了争执：Seb提议让Mia跟自己一起走，一边跟着巡演一边排练；Mia十憾然拒，也表达了对Seb长期在外巡演无法见面的不满，并表示Seb正背离自己的理想，做着他不喜欢的音乐。
Mia: Do you like the music you play?
Seb: I don't...I don't know what it matters.
Mia: Well, it matters. Because I think it matters that you play what you are playing, on the road for years.
Seb: Do you like the music I'm playing?
Mia: Yeah, I do! I just didn't think that you did. You said Keith the worst. And now you are gonna be on tour with him for years. So I just don't know if you are happy.
Seb: Why are you doing that? I thought you wanted me to do this, but it sounds like now you don't want me to do it.
Mia: What do you mean that "I wanted you to do this"?
Seb: This is what you wanted for me. To be in a band, and have a steady job. Yeah ... you know. To be ... you know.
Mia: Of course, I wanted you to have a steady job. So you can take care of yourself and your life, and you could start your club.
Seb: Yes, I am doing this. So I don't know why we are not celebrating?
Mia: Why aren't you starting your club?
Seb: You said yourself that no one wants to go to that club. No one wants to go to a club called "Chicken Steak".
Mia: So change the name!
Seb: Well, no one likes jazz! Not even you!
Mia: I do like jazz now, because of you!
Seb: This is what I thought you wanted me to do. What am I supposed to do? Go back to play ?
Mia: I'm not saying that. I am saying that you take the money you made to start your club! People will want to go to it! Because you are passionate about it, and people love what other people are passionate about. You remind people what they've forgot!
Seb: Not my experience. Well, whatever, right? It's time to grow up. You know, I have a steady job. This is what I am doing. And now suddenly, if you had these problems, I wish you could have said them earlier, before I signed on that goddam dotted line!
Mia: I'm pointing out that you had a dream that you followed...
Seb: This is the dream! This is the dream!
Mia: This is not your dream!
Seb: People like me spend whole life being in something that successful, that people like. You know? I mean I am finally in something that people enjoy! Because I do not enjoy, that doesn't matter.
Mia: Since when did you care about being liked? Why do you care so much about being liked?
Seb: You are an actress! What are you talking about? Maybe you just liked me when I was on my ass because that makes you feel better about yourself.
Mia: Are you kidding?
Seb: No!
Mia的这一串质问，又何尝不曾是Seb对自己的质问？可此时的Seb已经在内心中将这“背离理想”的行为合理化了——为了Mia，为了爱情。然而，当它夹杂着按耐已久的遗憾与后悔从嘴中说出来时，一句“This is what you wanted for me”也带出了对Mia的责怪之意，这是Mia不愿(也不该)承受的。
在Mia心中，Seb一直是那个会对“被喜爱”说出“Fuck them”的人，是那个理想坚定，誓要捍卫Pure Jazz的严肃音乐人。然而，作为旁观者，我却感到了一直隐藏于Seb心底的怯懦，那对于“Well, no one likes jazz!”的迟疑——也许，在Seb的内心深处，他并不像他一直表现出来那样勇敢。只不过，有时坚持并不是因为意义，而是因为坚持才会感到意义。在与Mia相爱之前，Seb孑然一身，这怯懦和迟疑被压得死死；在有了Mia之后，Seb看到了现实的骨感，也有了软肋，那怯懦和迟疑从心底泛起，只在等一个借口——一个必然在Mia之后出现的借口。也许是Keith的那句“You hold on to the past, but jazz is about the future. How can you be a revolutionary, if you are such a traditionalist?”
但其实，这个借口是什么并不重要。重要的是，只要借口出现，Seb都会把它“合理化”——谁让自己爱她呢。
因为乐队拍照，Seb错过了Mia重要的独角戏。剧终，Mia看着稀拉的观众，不见Seb的踪影，忍着泪水回到后台。虽然Seb赶在Mia离开前到了剧场门口，可经过了这一切，得到的只是一句“It's over, all of this”。
Mia回家，两人就此作别，爱情的第二阶段，“互相支持”，也以失败告终。我们能说是Mia对Seb不够体谅和理解吗？也许是——她过于相信Seb的坚定与强大，并把Seb的坚持想得过于简单和线性化；她没能察觉到Seb内心的怯懦与迟疑，她希望自己可以是支持和保卫Seb前进的动力与铠甲，却恰恰成了Seb向自己和世界妥协的理由和软肋。然而，这又怎能怪Mia呢？那是Seb自己的选择，是他自己最终输给了内心的怯懦和迟疑。以及，Seb送给Mia那句看似鼓励的“Fuck them”，又何尝不是把Mia的坚持想得过于简单和线性化了呢？
要怪，只能怪我们的软弱。
但是，软弱又恰恰是爱的所在啊。
二人分开后的某个早晨，Seb接到了演艺公司的电话，Mia的事业迎来转机。Seb驱车赶到内华达，找到了图书馆前Mia的家，并劝说她参加了试镜。这是一次Mia等待已久的，似乎上天专为她准备的机会——没有剧本，根据女演员来塑造角色——Mia终于迎来了真正属于她自己的舞台。
一曲The Fools Who Dream，Mia紧紧抓住了这次机会。
She told me:
A bit of madness is key,
to give us new colors to see,
Who knows where it will lead us?
And that's why they need us.
So bring on the rebels.
The ripples from pebbles.
The painters, and poets, and plays.
And here's to the fools
who dream.
Crazy, as they may seem.
Here's to the hearts that break.
Here's to the mess we make.
然而，Mia远走巴黎，追求自己的演艺事业。Seb则留在LA，推动自己的Jazz Club梦想。在巨大的不确定性面前，两人的感情不得不走到“终点”。
Seb: I guess we just have to wait and see.
Mia: I will always love you.
Seb: I will always love you, too.
时光飞逝，转眼便是五年后。
Mia以明星的身份重回当年工作的咖啡店，成为了那个让当年的自己神往的人。然而，当镜头回到家里，与她拥吻的却不是Seb。
影片的最后，Mia与丈夫机缘巧合地来到了Seb的Jazz Club。时隔五年，Seb再次与Mia四目相对，一句低声的“Welcome to Seb's”后，演奏了当年那首让Mia走进餐厅的曲子，，画面则走过了两人在某个平行世界中终成眷属的一生。
Mia和Seb为什么一定要分手？其实，在他们的故事中，这个问题就等于问“爱情的终点是什么？”我从影片读出的，是两人爱情的第三阶段——“彼此成就”，以及，当Mia和Seb再次四目相对，没说出口的那句“你过得好，就好”。
(注：本文英文部分为听写，有纰漏处请见谅。)
