La La Land is about as close to pure delight as you can get
when it comes to a moviegoing experience. From its opening song and dance
number to its final scene, it will put a smile on your face that will seldom
falter, even in the moments that break your heart. It succeeds in nearly every regard, working as both a throwback
to the classic musicals of yesteryear and a genuinely touching romance.
Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone play Sebastian Wilder and Mia
Dolan, two dreamers trying to make ends meet in the city of Los Angeles. Mia is
an aspiring actress working as a barista in a studio lot coffee shop. She hops
from audition to audition, working tirelessly to achieve her goals, but with
little success. Sebastian is an inspired pianist with an obsessive love for jazz.
He takes what work he can, playing in restaurants that insist he stick to their
uninspired playlist rather than demonstrating his true talent. He dreams of
opening a jazz club where he can play the music he loves unencumbered by anyone
else’s demands while also reminding people why jazz is such an integral music genre.
When the two finally meet, it sparks a relationship that inspires both to
pursue their dreams with renewed vigor.
Perhaps one of the most impressive things La La Land’s
writer/director Damien Chazelle manages to pull off here is a tone that is
utterly sincere. There’s no winking at the camera, no cynicism – the film is an earnest and loving homage to an all-too-rare genre in today’s cinematic
landscape. His direction is inspired. While many modern attempts may have
chosen to utilize flashy editing and fancy cuts to hide their stars’ lack of
musical talents, Chazelle’s camera’s gaze rarely falters. He relies on long, unbroken takes to emphasize the talents of his two leads and it is an absolute
joy to watch Gosling and Stone engage in what are essentially live performances. The
cinematography and production design successfully evokes the big, colorful
aesthetic found in so many old musicals.
But a musical is only as good as its soundtrack and, thankfully, Justin
Hurtwitz’s, combined with Pasek and Paul's lyrics, is one of the year’s best. The songs are catchy and frequently
stunning, infused with big band jazz elements and heartfelt ballads that'll give you chills. Stone and
Gosling have strong voices and the charisma to match, and while Mandy Moore’s choreography
(no, not that Mandy Moore) is simple
and old-fashioned, it’s also efficient and gives the pair plenty of
opportunities to stretch their dancing chops.
If there’s anything I could find fault with about the film, it’s that
Chazelle’s earnest screenplay is almost too simplistic. While in some
ways that works for the mood and tone he’s going for here, there’s a prevalent
feeling he doesn’t actually have much to say or add to the genre. His
characters are likable enough, but they aren’t particularly complex and don’t
go much deeper than their surface-level motivations.
Let me put it another way: yes, La La Land is a successful
musical throwback, but has the outpouring of love the film’s received been
because of its actual quality or because it reminds people of much better films
from the past? If La La Land had been released back in the 50s or 60s, would it
be remembered as a classic today, or would it have been lost in the midst of
its superiors?
But perhaps it isn’t fair for me to take such a pessimistic
approach when viewing La La Land. Because, quite frankly, even if its nostalgia
milking accounts for much of its appeal, it’s also a damn good movie with two
marvelous performances at its center. And even though I want to be cynical
about its overall appeal, whenever it comes to mind, I can’t help but smile.
And what’s so bad about a movie that just wants to make people smile?
FINAL RATING: 4/5
