Dir: Damien Chazelle
Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)
Read Matt's Telegraph review: HERE
“You could just write your own rules. You know, write something that's as interesting as you are.”
Welcome to a La La Land, no that’s not my stuttering, this is a cinematic place of musical wonder and smoldering romance which will leave you dazed and amused in the best possible way…
Love is very much in the air for La La Land as it has already bagged 7 Golden Globes, a host of Bafta nominations and will likely get some Oscar love too. The thing is, this isn’t one of those ‘all hype and no trousers’ flicks, oh no, this is a singing, dancing odyssey to dreamers everywhere and a bittersweet celebration of the power of love!
a fool who dreams
At heart it’s a simple story of struggling musician - Sebastian (Ryan ‘Drive’ Gosling), who meets aspiring actress - Mia (Emma ‘Birdman’ Stone), set against the handy backdrop of gigs, parties, auditions and clubs. Can Sebastian’s jazz piano skills set the world on fire, and perhaps more importantly – can his tunes win the heart of the actress who has the skills but not the breaks to dazzle tinsel town?
feel the joy
Director Damien ‘Whiplash’ Chazelle packs the film not just with infectiously catchy songs, heart warming dance numbers and savvy observations but also finds time to look at the trials and tribulations of star-crossed lovers everywhere. What La La Land does best is to grip your heart and make you yearn to see true love win the day. This is the cinema equivalent of a sugar rush mixed with a roller coaster which delivers quite a high and yet might also put a tear (of joy) in your eye.
written (and danced) in the stars
Also on hand for some able support are Finn ‘The Big Short’ Wittrock as Greg – Seb’s love rival and singer / song writer John Legend as Keith, one of Seb’s high school classmates / bandmates. But it is the main duo who rightly steal the show here – and they really sparkle with infectious chemistry and gleeful dance moves. Gosling proves that he is super versatile and looks gorgeous doing so, whilst Stone is right at home as a classic screen heroine and rocks some fantastic costumes. Plus massive props to the makers for featuring the ‘80s-tastic ‘I Ran (So Far Away)’ by A Flock of Seagulls.
sparkle in the eyes
Everything about La La Land is pure class and it deserves the heaps of praise it is getting. If ever a movie could single-handedly re-launch the big screen musical this is the one.
Here's to the fools everywhere who dream – my advice is to go and join them in the cinema as soon as you can!
Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:
ööööö
(5 - An infectiously gorgeous charming good time)...
Awesomeness öööö – Eye-popping scenes and great style throughout
Laughs ööö – Some good funnies but not a comedy
Horror ö – Nothing unless you can't stand jazz
Spiritual Enlightenment öööö - that's the power of love...
2 comments:
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You probably missed the fact that this was supposed to be a musical comedy or comedy musical. But OK that might be nitpicking compared to the biggest flaws this film has. There was very little style or spectacle to behold but that could have been overlooked had the musical numbers had some energy too them. A lot of them felt lacking. But that also could have been glanced over had the songs been memorable. Apart from City of Stars everything else was generic to average and is a downright insult to the classic musical films it's paying tribute to.
La La Land is not class but a cheap and lazy wannabe that is saved by the charm of Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. But even they were out their depth since they obviously could not sing and dance. And please don't use that excuse that they are supposed to be normal people expressing themselves. Normal people don't start out a song and dance number in daily life.
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