La La Land

This review may contain spoilers!

This is the sort of film that makes me completely fall in love with cinema again. I would give La La Land a 9/10.

What must be noted is that this is unapologetically a musical film, it cannot exist without highly theatrical use of music and song likewise it constructs itself heavily on an intense narrative about love, ambition and nostalgia. The plot of this film focusses on two equally intriguing characters both yearning for something tied to their love of the past; as the story progresses the two become entwined and we're given the most engaging and honest tale of love I've seen in a long time. It's a film that knows both how to be delightful and melancholy, there is a lot of respect paid back to the past within musical culture and film culture; there is so much content that it's impossible to truly appreciate all this film can offer with just one viewing. The cinematography glides and seems to dance alongside the characters, it's a very fluid and enchanting way of capturing action. The editing is a blend of amazing old visual styles and new ones, boasting a range of transitions that make this film feel timeless. The score for this film is really beautiful and quite moving; however it is the songs that are performed throughout that work so well, it's unique and a cinematic feat I haven't seen done in anything except iconic 50s musical cinema.

Emma Stone, who played Mia, really showcases her range as a performer in this film; I liked seeing her transition from a very optimistic character to one filled with despair and outrage. J.K. Simmons, who played Bill, was a fun minor role; his stubborn and stern role fit quite well and was countered in a really humourous way with his final scene of the film. John Legend, who played Keith, was a surprising stand out role with a lot to bring to the discussion of music; Legend had so much energy and felt very open and honest in his portrayal of Keith.

However the best performance came from Ryan Gosling, who played Sebastian. Gosling is naturally quite a witty performer who can deliver his lines very well, there are a lot of scenes where he brought a lot of natural comedy to his character. There was a lot of passion behind this performance as well, an important part of Sebastian is how much he cares for jazz and I enjoyed how much Gosling sold the audience on this quality of the role. There is so much conflict in Sebastian once he meets Mia, you see his love for her performed so well but he becomes twisted and different after trying to get a steady job to impress her. Gosling takes this role on an amazing journey and I have to say it might be one of his best roles to date.

The only real issue with La La Lan was minor pacing issues in the transition from the second to the third act; it's a big tonal shift and as such there are a lot of scenes to set this change up which leads to things dragging on for a little longer than they should have.

Terry Walters, who played Linda (Coffee Shop Manager), is a really stiff minor role; Walters is dealt a stereotype to play and never really gets the chance to define her role as a character. Callie Hernandez, Jessica Rothe and Sonoya Mizuno, who played Tracy, Alexis and Caitlin respectively, are very forgettable roles who live with Stone's character; unfortunately this never results in engaging interaction with Stone and the three are delegated to little more than background performers. Rosemarie DeWitt, who played Laura, had no real chemistry with Gosling; I found it a bit unconvincing to view them as a brother/sister duo. Jason Fuchs, who played Carlo, was a minor role with a shtick that wasn't as funny to an audience as it might have been to a Hollywood producer; it didn't help that Fuchs didn't have much screen presence. Finn Wittrock, who played Greg, was a very sudden character to appear in this film; unfortunately we were basically told about his role and Wittrock never really got given the chance to present much of the role himself. Tom Everett Scott, who played David, was the big twist that would have sunk this film if it hadn't been for the amazing writing and directing; Scott's role was as Stone's husband and supposedly 'final' partner of the film and it's so out of nowhere and the pair have no chemistry that it was a very risky move.