Catchy tunes, dream-like backdrops and a wind-swept romance. This past weekend La La Land, the highly anticipated movie-musical from director Damien Chazelle, opened in select theaters in New York City and Los Angeles. The movie follows Sebastian, a Jazz musician played by Ryan Gosling, and Mia, a struggling actress played by Emma Stone, through their whimsical romance and the struggles they face as artists trying to make a living in present-day Los Angeles.
I first saw the preview for La La Land a few months ago. The first few notes of the movie’s theme “City of Stars” immediately pulled me in and the visuals reminding me of a classic “Old Hollywood” musical making me think think to myself, “Why don’t they make movies like this anymore?” Ever since then I was absolutely hooked. When I had the opportunity to see La La Land this past Saturday, I was not disappointed.
Songs that fill you with nostalgia for the musicals of the fifties and sixties set the mood for the film. From the opening number, “Another Day of Sun,” to the upbeat “Someone in the Crowd,” each and every song is filled with the high energy of a Jazz dance number and the romantic passion we’re used to seeing from a Gosling-Stone vehicle. It’s classic. It’s catchy. It picks you up when you’re down (even if the scene you’re watching makes you feel a little hopeless.) The film’s score comes from Justin Hurwitz, who was also the mind behind the music for last year’s Whiplash. Overall, I felt that the score for the movie did a perfect job of setting the mood and moving the plot along.
One of the first things I noticed while viewing La La Land was its use of colors. Every scene, every backdrop and every outfit in the movie is colorful. Pops of almost every color under the rainbow help brighten your mood, making you feel as if you’ve just stepped in a technicolor dream.
La La Land is an ode to classic musicals set in the present-day. It’s a story about following your dreams no matter how hard life may hit you. It’s a story about the love that tugs at your heartstrings and when the movie ended, I left feeling bittersweet. But Chazelle’s La La Land is the kind of movie we all need in a time where it is much too easy to be left feeling a little hopeless. What we needed this holiday season was a pick-me-up and that’s exactly what La La Land accomplishes. It reminds you of the little things that make life worth living through every loving look exchanged between Mia and Sebastian and in every note of every song.
Currently playing in select theaters in cities like New York City and Los Angeles, La La Land is set to open nationwide on December 16.