La La Land Review

I HATE musicals. I have a real dislike for them from Chicago to ma ma mia to hairspray. I wasn’t even going to see this one, but somehow I ended in this movie.

And…

I am GLAD that I did! From the very first moment, this film captures your eyes and presents what it is all about. The story is typical but presented VERY strongly with the musical numbers and very moody dialogs. I haven’t seen ANY musical other than sound of music before this, so I can’t say how this rates as a musical, but I can say, as a film it rates VERY high.

Coming to the performances, Ryan Gosling and Emma stone are flawless in their roles of frustrated musician and struggling actress. Their delivery, looks, singing, everything is perfect. Their chemistry is alright though, nothing out of the ball park, but not fully unbelievable like Emma stone in Spiderman.

Now coming to the most important part of a musical. The songs.

They start big and keep the momentum going, the movie does slow down a bit in the second half with fewer songs, but the ending makes up for it. The jazz based songs were pretty good and even the modernized bastardized version of jazz presented is also foot tappingly good. Every song has its own distinctive flavor and the main theme song and its music will play in your head long after the movie has ended.

The direction, cinematography, editing, everything is flawless in this film.

I predict an Oscar win for best picture and cinematography. Best original song / Score is also likely.

Rating: this is a SOLID 9/10. I enjoyed it just as much as I liked Rogue one which also came out this week. That is saying something on how good this film is. So musical and romance aficionados will love this one… give it a try!