The movie award season is upon us and this
year the hot favourite to sweep the season is the feel-good musicial, La La
Land. Starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, La La Land is director’s Damien
Chazell’s follow-up to his 2014 film Whiplash and much like Whiplash, music
played a big role in the movie.
Gosling’s Sebastian Wilder is a musical
purist in LA who has just spent his last penny trying and failing to open a
jazz club in the city. He meets Stone’s Mia Dolan and the movie is about how the
duo chased their dreams amidst setback after setback. Back by strong
performances from the two leads, smart direction from Chazall, and good songs;
La La Land is one of those strange movie that managed to be both a great romantic
comedy and a wonderful drama.
In short, it is great!
It is an exceptional film that pays homage
to classic musicals while making it’s mark on the genre. Some people are
already calling the movie a classic; I won’t go that far but I can see why they
would say so. La La Land is an endearing film that you could watch endless
times without getting tired of. Director Damien Chazell had a clear vision for
the movie and he implemented it beautifully.
In this, he is helped ably by Gosling and
Stone who gave it their all in their performances. The two leads are not
natural singers or dancers and that, strangely, played well in the movie. Emma
Stone was especially good in this movie and I would be shocked if she didn’t
win Best Actress at the Oscars. Honestly I never thought much of her as an
actress before La La Land. She’s cute and commendable but I never thought of
her as a great actress. I do now.
I also have to give pops to the ending of
this movie. All I can say is “WOW”! The bittersweet ending was just perfect. It
shows the cost the two leads made to make their fantasies happen, yet at the
same time, it was not a downer but a celebration. Yes, there are scenes of
what-could-have-been and they were beautiful in themselves, but in the end
these two made it and they were not going to give up their success for
anything.
La La Land is nominated for a record-tying
fourteen Oscars at the 89th Academy Awards. I’m pretty sure it won’t win that
many but after watching the movie I can understand why they got so many
nominations. It is just one hell of a movie. Watch it!
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