Kristin Reviews La La Land
First off, in case it wasn't clear from the preview, La La Land is a musical. Like, a real, honest-to-gawd musical with song-and-dance numbers randomly interrupting scenes.
As the began, it felt very much like writer-director Damien Chazelle (who wrote and directed 2014's brilliant Whiplash) was going for an homage to the classic, golden-age musicals of the late '40s and 1950s. This would have been fine. Fun even. But the film is inconsistent. It starts out promising a big production musical extravaganza and then becomes something else. Something kind of nebulous and . . . dare I say, dull.
The best part of the film is the music. The overarching theme upon which the key songs are based is quite pretty, and several of the songs are appealing enough to be worthy of an iTunes download. Best song nominations will be deserved, and I expect a win in that category.
Also good are Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as the leads, Sebastian and Mia, although I must admit I spent a lot of time wondering as I was watching if they were doing their own "stunts." Does Gosling really play piano, and did the two of them actually perform their own dance sequences? Unfortunately, the fact that the narrative wasn't holding my attention well enough to keep such thoughts at bay until the credits rolled was one of the problems with the film overall.
I wanted to love La La Land. I love all things cinema, and the preview promised something that brought the magic of moviemaking to the screen. I'm not a fan of jazz music, but I can appreciate it as an art form, and I did very much enjoy a scene in which Sebastian explained to Mia what makes jazz extraordinary. So, I was ready for a film about art and passion and creativity, with special winks toward cinema lovers.
That's not what I got. I got a fairly unremarkable story wrapped in an inconsistent production featuring conflict that felt manufactured rather than organic. All in a movie that happened to have some lovely music and enjoyable dance numbers. Such a pity.
I expect La La Land to be nominated for a lot of awards. And I think it may win many of them. But it was not the best film of 2016. Not even close.
-Kristin
1.22.2017
The best part of the film is the music. The overarching theme upon which the key songs are based is quite pretty, and several of the songs are appealing enough to be worthy of an iTunes download. Best song nominations will be deserved, and I expect a win in that category.
Also good are Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as the leads, Sebastian and Mia, although I must admit I spent a lot of time wondering as I was watching if they were doing their own "stunts." Does Gosling really play piano, and did the two of them actually perform their own dance sequences? Unfortunately, the fact that the narrative wasn't holding my attention well enough to keep such thoughts at bay until the credits rolled was one of the problems with the film overall.
I wanted to love La La Land. I love all things cinema, and the preview promised something that brought the magic of moviemaking to the screen. I'm not a fan of jazz music, but I can appreciate it as an art form, and I did very much enjoy a scene in which Sebastian explained to Mia what makes jazz extraordinary. So, I was ready for a film about art and passion and creativity, with special winks toward cinema lovers.
That's not what I got. I got a fairly unremarkable story wrapped in an inconsistent production featuring conflict that felt manufactured rather than organic. All in a movie that happened to have some lovely music and enjoyable dance numbers. Such a pity.
I expect La La Land to be nominated for a lot of awards. And I think it may win many of them. But it was not the best film of 2016. Not even close.
-Kristin
1.22.2017
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