As big and daunting as Los Angeles is, it's also a relatively small town, especially if you're trying to get into show business. Mia (Emma Stone) is one of those many hopefuls. She's working at a coffee shop on the Warner Brothers studio lot, giving the actors who are doing what she longs to do their caffeine fix. Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is another hopeful, also currently scraping the bottom of the barrel. To keep the roof over his head in his dumpy apartment and to pay what bills he can, which isn't many, he plays jazz at any club that will have him. Mia and Sebastian first meet in the notorious LA traffic. She is holding up traffic going over lines for an audition, he is late and stuck behind her. He passes her with a glare, she responds with another unfriendly, but definitely Los Angelan gesture. Their paths cross again months later at an 80s party that Mia's friends have encouraged her to attend and Sebastian is performing at.
After a number of missed opportunities in La La Land, Sebastian encourages Mia to write her own show. She agrees, though terrified of failure, and writes a one-woman show she will also perform. All Sebastian wants is to own his own jazz club, but he doesn't have the money, so he reluctantly takes a gig with a fellow musician. With glimpses of romance with each other and opportunities for success in the dog-eat-dog world of entertainment, the two must make some tough decisions about what they really want out of life.
La La Land was written and directed by Damien Chazelle who recently shot into the spotlight with his critically acclaimed writing and directing achievement with Whiplash. While both deal with music, La La Land looks completely different than his dark and torturous Whiplash. If Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Judy Garland, or Fred Astaire were still making musicals today, La La Land would be their product. They don't make movies like this anymore. We've seen episodes of How I Met Your Mother, Psych, Scrubs, Family Guy and even South Park pay homage to the art of yesterdecade. We've also seen musicals revitalized with Mama Mia!, Moulin Rouge, Rock of Ages, and Jersey Boys. But a musical set today with the feel of the 50's is long overdue and looks like it's been worth the wait as La La Land boasts traditional old school movie sets mixed with some of the modern movie special effects that they couldn't even imagine in Singin' in the Rain or Grease.
Gosling and Stone light up the screen in the preview and come off as the perfect kids you're rooting for, both in their pursuits of their passions and in their blooming romance. And I'm rooting for La La Land. If you like any of the movies I've named, just watching the preview probably made you smile with anticipation. It just cleaned up at the Golden Globes with wins for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Musical or Comedy, Best Director, Best Original Score and Best Screenplay. I'm giving La La Land a very hopeful 4 Star prediction and anticipate that rating will only go up after watching it. Am I right? We Shall See.
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