La La Land Review

Just wanted to precursor with the reason I chose to review this film. I heard so many good things about it, and it seems like literally everyone was talking about it, so I decided to see it to try something new and not in my usual range of movies. I'm glad I can say I enjoyed this movie. Also ironic that this is the second Ryan Gosling movie I'm reviewing. What can I say, the man is a beast.

Story- Mia (Emma Stone) is a struggling actress in Hollywood who goes to numerous auditions where she's either interrupted mid-speech for a phone call or thanked for her time after two lines. She works at a coffee shop on a movie theater lot because she loves the atmosphere of the sets. Meanwhile, Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is a headstrong Jazz pianist who dreams of opening his own Jazz club. He plays at a local restaurant to get enough money to pay for necessities, but he doesn't like that he does not get to showcase his talents, instead resorting to being required to play Christmas music. Mia stumbles upon the restaurant after hearing the music, and recognizes Seb from a comedic interaction on the freeway. They end up finding each other again at a party, and the rest of the movie follows their relationship together, through triumphs and struggles.

Cinematography/Props- Something interesting I found with the movie is that I didn't remember what time period it was, but if not for the cell phones, it could've been somewhat ambiguous, because they dress somewhat conservatively for it being set in modern times, at least from the norm most are used to. There are some absolutely beautiful shots in this movie, one of them when Gosling and Stone are trying to find their cars, the sunset in the backdrop looks fantastic. Really great set pieces are used in this movie.

Acting- The interesting thing about this movie is there really aren't many supporting characters, it specifically focuses on Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone's characters, which is somewhat unique, because even in movies like Alien, for example, it focuses on Ripley, but the whole crew is given some of the spotlight to share for a portion, before they start to die of course.

Directing- I was aware that the director behind this movie, Damien Chazelle, also made Whiplash, a movie about a beyond-strict music instructor and a passionate drummer. You can tell he really enjoys music, because both movies have been a critical success due to their quality as well as accuracy. I hope with his next movie he can make me a fan of this subgenre because of the amount of enjoyment I got from this movie.

Soundtrack- Obviously the soundtrack is a huge part of the movie given that it is a musical. As many others have said, the songs blend into the story nicely so as not to come off cheesy or out of place. They seamlessly weave them in and it works really well. It's also nice that Gosling and Stone use their own vocals unlike some other movies where people sing because it lends to the authenticity of the songs.

Final verdict- A This is the first musical I've ever seen (Disney movies with songs don't count because they aren't classified as musicals) and I liked it enough that I'll be adding this to my blu ray collection.

#EmmaStone #RyanGosling #musical