La La Land – Film Review

Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and Mia (Emma Stone) are drawn together by their common desire to do what they love. But as success mounts, they are faced with decisions that begin to fray the fragile fabric of their love affair, and the dreams they worked so hard to maintain in each other threaten to rip them apart.

Where does one even begin to try describing how beautiful and magnificently hypnotizing a movie like La La Land is? It’s a two-hour movie that feels like it flies by in just a matter of minutes. It’s always on its feet and it’s always presenting the audience with something of entertainment. If you’re a massive fan of musicals and the dancing that goes along with it, you’re going to be in for a treat because Damien Chazelle’s film is jam-packed with tons of those intricately crafted scenes.

But even if you’re not the biggest fan of musicals, fear not, because La La Land tells a genuinely interesting and heartwarming story of two people drawn together by their dreams and ambitions. Sebastian loves nothing more in the whole wide world than jazz and playing the piano. When he’s sitting down playing a tune, he feels like the rest of the world doesn’t exist. He is able to tune everything out around him and put his undivided attention into playing.

And Mia feels the exact same way when it comes to acting. Her biggest dream in life is to become a world-famous actress. She wants to be in the biggest and most incredible films imaginable. So when Mia and Sebastian meet, you’d expect their dreams and ambitions to bring them together instantly, but you’d be wrong.

They banter back and forth with each other for quite some time and playfully tease each other but they soon realize that they actually have a lot more in common than they initially thought. As they spend more time together talking and enjoying life, they realize that they truly feel a connection.

La La Land tells one of the most heartwarming love stories ever put to film. I think it’s genuinely near impossible to watch this film and not smile at least once. You’re bound to thanks to the movie’s wonderful central romance, its hilarious screenplay, and music that’s so beautiful that it will bring tears to your eyes.

Courtesy of Lionsgate

I’ve seen La La Land four times or so now, and yet even still whenever I go back and rewatch it, I get the same amount of enjoyment I got out of it the first time around. It’s not one of those movies where once you watch it one time, you can never go back and enjoy it again because you know what happens already. You’ll go back and be reminded of how magical and surreal everything about it is.

The music in the film is some of the best music ever written for a movie. “City of Stars” and “It’s Another Day of Sun” are absolute masterpieces and the dance choreography that goes along with these pieces are simultaneously outstanding.

It also helps that our lead actors Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are truly phenomenal in their respective roles. I cannot see another actor portraying Sebastian and I cannot see another actress portraying Mia. They bring a sense of comfort and love to their characters that no other actor could have brought.

La La Land is one of the most magical films in existence. It’s a miracle that this movie even got made because of how transcending it is. Watch La La Land and you’ll be whisked away to another world. A world you’ll never want to leave once you first step inside.

Overall Grade: A+

MPAA Rating: N/A

Cast: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, John Legend, Rosemarie DeWitt, J.K. Simmons, Finn Wittrock, Callie Hernandez, Sonoya Mizuno, Jessica Rothe, Tom Everett Scott, Josh Pence, Meagen Fay

Directed by: Damien Chazelle

Distributed by: Lionsgate

Release Date: December 9, 2016

Running Time: 128 minutes