Review: LA LA LAND

OOH LA LA!

Or How we Gushed!

4.5 stars

Mini Review:

A Jazz pianist in Los Angeles falls in love with an actress and their love takes us through highs and lows of life in Hollywood. From failed auditions to waiting tables to false hope to success on the big screen as well as failures and successes in personal lives, we see it all. It’s been shot so magically and beautifully, you will be compelled to watch it again.

Main Review:

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone weave such magical dreams for the audience, thanks to the vision of Whiplash director Damien Chazelle and the amazing music of Justin Hurwitz.

Ryan Gosling plays Sebastian Wilder, a jazz pianist who is a traditionalist at heart, and hates how jazz bars are shutting down to make way for topless clubs. He’s struggling to make a living by playing piano at restaurants where he’s given Christmas carols as playlist.

Mia Dolan is an actress who serves coffee between auditions. And with every audition, her dreams of being successful are dashed. She has a secret dream of writing and acting in her own play also seem to be destined to remain a secret. Emma Stone plays this part so gently and so delicately, we make her story our own.

The two bump into each other often and not happily. How they come close and discover love and success is what the film is all about.

But it’s not such a mundane, predictable story at all. In fact, you will put Griffith Observatory in your ‘must see’ list if you are visiting La La Land (an affectionate nickname for the city of Los Angeles).

Ryan Gosling learnt to play the piano and when the director makes the legendary pianist wield a guitar (John Legend plays a jazz musician in the movie who plays the guitar!), you know the boundaries have been pushed. The costumes and colors just pop out of the screen and you will love Emma Stone’s shoes, and clothes that are so reminiscent of old Hollywood musicals. And the one thing you will not forget is the green dress she wears. Already relegated to that part of the memory where Marilyn Monroe’s white dress from The Seven Year Itch and Judy Garland’s ruby slippers from Wizard Of Oz are kept. The lead pair sing songs with lyrics that touch parts of you you never thought existed. ‘Fools Who Dream’ becomes the anthem for your life as you emerge from the theatre humming City Of Stars. This is a must watch film.



(this review appears on nowrunning dot com)