LA LA Land

Old time Hollywood meets Old Time Rag as this Jazz standard becomes one of my favorite musicals of all time.

La La Land is a musical coming from the same director as my favorite film from last year, Whiplash. It follows a struggling actor and a struggling musician as they try to make it big in LA. The unlikely pair meet, fall for each other, and live life as struggling artists against the sunny backdrop of Southern California.  The story here is pretty standard, but it is the music and cinematic-style that really sets this film apart.

The first thing you have to evaluate a musical on is the music; La La Land is heavily influenced by Jazz and this inspiration is well crafted and diverse. The musical numbers are shot beautifully and start seamlessly into the story. I was honestly blown away by the score on this film and the music will be stuck in your head for days after watching. The music is almost a character in the film that weaves in and out and explains the emotion of the scenes perfectly.

La La Land’s story may sound pretty standard, but it is an old story with modern twists. It makes it feel very familiar without becoming overly predictable. With work of lesser actors it could have easily fallen flat but with Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling both giving stellar performances and the movie sails by and wraps you up.

If you hate musicals I don’t think you are even reading this review, but La La Land is truly harkening back to the success of Old Hollywood. It is shot beautifully, acted convincingly, and has a score that will stick with you days after the movie is done. This is a must watch as we move into Oscar season and must own for me.

Our Score: 5 out of 5 Perfect solos