La La Land

The live action musical film genre is interesting based on its use in the past. Most of the time it has been used to adapt a play for a modern setting while others tell its own story. My experience with those movies can range from some of the older ones (such as The Sound of Music, Grease, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and Mary Poppins) to the entries from the past years (such as Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Les Miserables, and Enchanted). I enjoy musical movies with an interesting premise, good actors in the roles, and a tone that works with it. I haven't seen a musical movie since Les Miserables but that has changed recently. When I saw the trailer for La La Land, I liked the kind of environment it presented, the main actors involved, and the catchy music following the story. After hearing excellent reviews, I went to an advance screening of the movie ready to see what kind of an impact it will have and left the theater feeling very happily cheerful.

Plot: The story follows a jazz pianist and an aspiring actress with passions and career goals for their own lives. They cross paths with each other and fall in love. The plot follows the both of them making career decisions to accomplish those goals and how it affects not only their self esteem in regards to their aspirations but also them as a couple. It knows how to balance the cheerful nature as well as the harsh nature of the competition both of them face in attempting to reach their dreams that challenge their ambition. Overall the story is simple to follow while being effective with connecting to the audience on the feel good nature as well as the tough life that challenges those pursuing goals in the arts of acting and music.

Characters: The two main characters are Sebastian Wilder (Ryan Gosling) and Mia Dolan (Emma Stone). Sebastian is a jazz pianist with a strong passion for jazz music and deals with obstacles that challenge his passion. Ryan does an excellent job in bringing a wonderful charisma in his performance throughout the movie. He brings the excitement and determination to the character while also showing frustration at being confronted with challenges to his dream. Mia is an aspiring actress struggling to land a role in a competitive market. Emma also does an excellent job in showing her charm and struggling nature of her character in trying to land an acting gig. She brings her strong dramatics chops in portraying her hopeful nature and anxiety as she takes steps in order to achieve her goal. Emma and Ryan share a great chemistry with each other throughout the movie, which isn't surprising since this is their third movie together. Overall the casting and characters are perfect for the environment and story of La La Land.

Songs: The music brings a great throwback to the old school musicals and classical jazz. The songs blend very well with the situations at hand such as the opening scene setting the mood for what's to come. There are songs that are cheerful and optimistic with aiming high for dreams and those that are quiet and somber for the more reflective moments. The set pieces are great and colorful when they need to be while going all out with the occasions that need it the most. There are a couple of songs in particular to look for that are very catchy and, as a result, will likely get stuck in your head in a good way. Overall the songs are great and a beautiful sight to watch as well as listen to that provides moments optimistic bright and silently somber.

Overall Consensus: La La Land brings the musical film genre to a powerful level in its simple story with its wonderfully charming main actors providing the relatable struggles of the characters in order to achieve their dreams leading to an emotional payoff. ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

Reasons to watch it: You like watching musical films. You like Emma Stone and/or Ryan Gosling. You are a music major that enjoys watching musicals with excellent dance choreography and/or beautiful songs that accompany it. You like watching movies that take place in Los Angeles. You like watching movies that have a compelling romance involved. You want to see a great modern musical film that isn't animated. You want a break from the massive blockbusters and prefer smaller but emotional effective movies.

Reasons to avoid it: You don't like musical films. You are tired of Emma Stone and/or Ryan Gosling. You don't like movies that have romance involved. You don't like small scaled movies and prefer massive blockbusters. You don't like movies that take place in Los Angeles.