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Just two years ago, writer/director Damien Chazelle’s debut feature, Whiplash, captivated audiences, wowed critics, and took home three well-deserved Oscars. Now he’s back with the jazzy follow-up, La La Land—a magical, musical Hollywood romance that’s already set its sights on award season gold.
La La Land tells the story of an actress and a musician as they follow their dreams in LA. Mia (Emma Stone) is an aspiring actress who works as a barista on the Warner Bros. lot between auditions. Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is a talented jazz pianist who dreams of opening his own club and keeping jazz music alive. After running into each other in the streets and clubs and house parties of LA, they find themselves falling in love—and their budding relationship begins to guide the choices they make in their careers.
La La Land is delightfully different yet brilliantly familiar. From the first song-and-dance number (set during one of those notorious LA traffic jams), it’s both modern and old-fashioned; it’s playful and vibrant and loaded with nostalgia for classic Hollywood musicals. Really, it’s like a gorgeous dream—the kind of dream that’s so striking and so enchanting that you have a hard time adjusting to reality once it’s over. The kind that you want to revisit.
But this isn’t just a fluffy romantic comedy—so it isn’t always cheery and playful. Like any real relationship, it has moments of sheer joy and moments of heartbreak and disappointment, too. Like any of us, these two characters mess things up; they make some mistakes, and they don’t always agree. Their relationship is complicated and messy—and that change in tone can sometimes feel a little unsettling. But their story is truly beautiful in its honesty.
Chazelle creates such a breathtaking backdrop for his captivating musical romance—and his attention to light and color (paired with a gifted costume designer) make shot after shot feel absolutely gallery-worthy. But it’s the stars who give the film its charm. Stone and Gosling couldn’t be much better; they’re perfect together, and they’re perfect for the film. Both have a cool, classic Hollywood style. Both can be sweet or sarcastic or silly (and Gosling’s Mickey Mouse Club experience clearly didn’t hurt). And they play off each other with such remarkable ease that they make almost every scene all the more delightful.
More than just a flighty Hollywood musical, La La Land is beautiful and bittersweet, effervescent but honest. It’s the must-see release of this year’s award season.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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