By Darlene Donloe
Director and
Academy Award nominee Damien Chazelle’s latest film, LA LA Land, is a throwback to Hollywood’s Golden Age, a bygone era
when the musical was king.
Chock full of
witty little ditties sung by stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, LA LA Land’s flavor is taken straight
from the classics.
It’s a bit
campy, but if you’re a fan of that genre, it’s a satisfying journey through LA LA Land.
There aren’t a
lot of musicals rocking the screen these days, although using music and dance
as an integral part of a movie’s narrative used to be the way to an audience’s
heart. Back in the 40s when the movie musicals popularity peaked – they were
grand spectacles complete with elaborate sets, vibrant costumes, great
cinematography, solid dance numbers and, of course, great music.
Chazelle
takes a page from that era and makes it all his own. In some ways it’s a scary
proposition considering that the traditional movie musical has been banished
into obscurity. Young people aren’t exactly familiar with that genre and
The story is
simple, but it’s not simple. It’s a story as old as time. It’s literally about
two people trying to make it in show business. Well, duh! But, there’s more, much more. Before we delve
into that, here’s the story.
There is Mia
(Emma Stone), an aspiring actress who, in between auditions, is a barista on a
studio lot. But she has dreams of
stardom, which includes starring in her own one-woman theatrical production. Then
there is Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), a staunch jazz
pianist who works various gigs around town to make ends meet. He doesn’t want to play anything but jazz –
even when his job requires him to play something else. Both Mia and Sebastian
find out early on in their careers that life isn’t fair and breaking into show
business is even more unfair.
Eventually
Mia and Sebastian meet. In fact, they literally bump into each other. It’s not
exactly fireworks in the beginning, but, of course, the two warm up to each
other. Each supports the other’s dream
until a rift shakes up the relationship and an opportunity arises that
challenges their love.
In
the meantime, there is plenty of music and dance numbers ala Fred Astaire and
Ginger Rogers to move the story along.
La La Land looks at the realities of making
the hard decision of whether to pursue one’s career dreams or pursuing one’s personal
relationship. What to do? Both are important. Which one will Mia and
Sebastian choose?
Chazelle,
who is paying homage to the movie musical, has fashioned a sweet, nostalgic film
with eye-popping visuals that is all at once a love story, a fantasy and a look
at determination in its rawest form.
And,
in the end, Chazelle reinforces, once again, that there’s no business like show
business.
LA LA Land (Lionsgate), written and directed by
Damien Chazelle, stars Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, John Legend, J.K. Simons,
Rosemarie DeWitt, Finn Wittrock, Callie Hernandez, Sonoya Mizuno, Jessica
Rothe, Tom Everett Scott and Josh Pence.
On the DONLOE
SCALE: D (don’t bother), O (oh, no), N (needs work), L (likeable), O (oh, yeah)
and E (excellent), LA LA Land gets an
O (oh, yeah).
LA LA Land is Rated PG-13 for some language;
Running Time: 128 minutes.
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