[yasr_overall_rating]
A jazz pianist falls for an aspiring actress in Los Angeles.
Director Damien Chazelle is a thirty-something Harvard Trained filmmaker and screenwriter who seems to be coming well into his own with his third film. Focusing on what Hollywood dreams are made of, he has already met success as the recipient of Best Director for this film at the Critics’ Choice Awards. While this honor is certainly a testament to the effect of this feel-good movie on theater goers, it also has many California dreamers feeling a little more justified in doing whatever it takes to pursue happiness.
Pairing Ryan Gosling (Sebastian) with Emma Stone (Mia) seems purely natural as these two beautiful people who are immensely talented, have probably themselves lived so much of the life in the roles they are playing that it had to be relatively easy to take on these personas with little or no script. The additional casting of John Legend (Keith) as a jazz musician made it all the more interesting. What is key in the development of the plot is that each of the characters plays a role that is total self-serving, but at the same time, they are understanding of the concessions that must be made to ensure that they are a good fit for one another. The diverse music in this story lends itself to the level of irony that makes the entire film interesting as both Mia and Sebastian are forced to dance to someone else’s music their entire lives, and even though they realize it, they compete internally and are forced to reconcile with the inner voice that has them in and out of each other’s lives like an unending tango.
While the storyline seems to be a different version of the same thing that happens when there is a conflict between what we want and what we know we can live with, the promise of a lifelong love affair with hope and desire, energizes the audience to believe that all things are possible. The romance and intimacy between the characters is just as real as the desire to be true to themselves regardless of the sacrifice. While “La La Land” seems to go off the deep end at times, the focus is never lost, and the limitless boundaries of bliss and chaos keep you on your toes. This makes it real, interesting and enough to get you through the emotion-filled holidays. Don’t miss it!
In theaters Friday, December 16th
The story is as thin as it is simple-minded and totally banal. The „relationship“ between Seb and Mia is actually as hollow as the entire plot of the film. She runs away after one bad word from him and never answers the phone thereafter. Just the way grown-ups who are supposedly in love with each other ought to handle such matters. When their career paths are going to send them to different parts of the world, they do not even try to find a compromise. Instead they blabber „,let’s see“. They add an absurd-superficial and totally unconvincing mutual „I will… Read more »