La La Land (2016 Film) Review

With a staggering amount of Academy Award nominations, along with widespread critical acclaim, does La La Land live up to the hype? The film stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as an aspiring jazz musician and actress respectively, who fall in love in Los Angeles, otherwise known as La La Land.



As I did with my Hidden Figures review, here's the Kids-In-Mind review if you're a parent concerned about content suitability.

Cast/Characters

As I previously stated, the cast has Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, but La La Land also features the talents of John Legend and a little hint of J.K. Simmons sprinkled in here and there. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone play two very likable characters as they depict a real, sometimes forced, relationship. Usually, I find movie romances to be quite cringeworthy, but this was one of the times that it worked. The two are, unexpectedly, very funny together. Their singing is outstanding. We'll talk about that more in the music section. I found their introductions to be a bit odd at first, but after made more clear by the film, it made much more sense. The quality of acting is brilliant and it got me to believe the dreams the two wanted to make a reality. Ryan Gosling actually learned all those songs for the film and it's impressive. Unfortunately, at least to me, I didn't feel like we got to see a lot of what Emma Stone's character, Mia, was wanting to do in life, which was to be an actress. Although, the bits and pieces we did see were pretty good. John Legend, a talented and experienced musician in the real world, does a fantastic job with his musical scenes as well as his acting. There's very little J.K. Simmons here. Not enough to call his acting quality good or bad. Not a huge cast in the film, but that's one of the great things about it.

Callback

The callbacks to the musicals of the 40s and 50s are really strong, but unfortunately, they cause a few problems for the film. From the opening logo, to the title and ending design, it very much feels like it was made in that time period. I don't know why, but for some reason, I kept thinking that this was actually a period film. This was before I saw the film and when I saw little to none of the promotional material. Some of you may say it's obvious that it's not a period film, but I couldn't help feeling that vibe. It I thought the filmmakers did a great job blending the classic and modern elements together and it made for a very cohesive film. Despite that, I felt at first that the film was trying a bit too hard trying to fit that classical feel into it, though as the film continued, it got better and better. We didn't get a lot of story at first and it was a bit tedious having two musical numbers almost back-to-back. Even though the film was having that period feel, some of the characters lines, John Legends in particular, contradicted that with his "You're holding onto the past, jazz is about the future" line. It sounded as if he was talking to the director rather than Sebastian, who is Ryan Gosling' character. There's just something unsettling about that line.

Music/Dancing

One word. Phenomenal. That's how I would describe the music and dancing choreography in La La Land. Another Day of Sun, Someone in the Crowd, and A Lovely Night are all good songs. However, my personal favorite ended up becoming a three-way tie between Audition (The Fools Who Dream), Start a Fire, and City of Stars. I actually may lean between Start a Fire and City of Stars, but I couldn't cut the Audition song. I just found it that good. The dancing choreography is spot on, especially in Another Day of Sun. But also in A Lovely Night. The movements are timed perfectly. It's just that good.

Oscars

Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Original Screenplay, Score, and Song are just a few of the fourteen nominations La La Land was able to score. There's also Production Design and Costume Design, but I'm still deciding if I want Fantastic Beasts or Arrival to take those two. Speaking of Arrival, La La Land ain't got anything on that film. Arrival still remains my pick to win Picture and Director. La La Land and another film, Moonlight, are said to be the two frontrunners. I'm hoping against all hope that there is an upset and that it'll be Arrival. However, if La La Land wins, I'll be okay with that. Or Hidden Figures. Score and Song are a no-brainer, it's clear La La Land deserves those two as well as Actor and Actress. Those are the ones I think it should win, I'll have to think about the others to decide. It's likely the film will be a juggernaut at the ceremony.

Should You See It/ Grade

Yes, I think you should see La La Land. The film doesn't really demand that you see it in theaters so I wouldn't worry about seeing this in the theater. However, if you are a fan of these actors or these type of films, then go. Otherwise, you can wait till it's on i-Tunes, DVD, Blu-ray, etc. As for my grade, I was torn between a B+ or an A-, but because the music is so good and the performances are well done, I'm gonna give this an A-. A quick warning to all, this film may be slow in the middle for you, I didn't feel that way, but my parents were and you might be too. Unless your kids are into this sort of this film, or if he or she likes musicals and/or romance, I don't think children under the age of ten would like it. I went with my whole family including  my youngest sister, who's eight, and she liked it, but she likes musicals and a bit of romance. On the other side, we also took my little brother, who's five, and he didn't seem to pay attention at all.

So that's my review of La La Land, go see it. Write in the comments down below what you thought of my review if you saw the film as well as what film you want me to review next. Share this with your friends, anyways, thanks for reading, I'm the Film Fanatic, bye-bye.