La La Land
On a crowded Los Angeles highway (“Another Day of Sun“), Mia (Emma Stone), an onstudio barista and aspiring actress, is distracted by her preparation for an upcoming audition, which leads to a moment of road rage between her and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), a jazz pianist. Her audition proves to be yet another failure. At the same time, Sebastian is having problems paying his bills, leading to an argument with his sister, Laura (Rosemarie DeWitt) before going to his next gig at a restaurant. That night, Mia’s three roommates, in an attempt to cheer her up, invite her to a lavish party in the Hollywood Hills (“Someone in the Crowd”). When Mia’s car is towed, she is forced to walk back to her apartment.
Sebastian is instructed by the restaurant’s owner, Bill (J. K. Simmons), not to play any jazz. While playing simple variations of Christmas songs, he slips into a passionate improvisation, which Mia overhears as she walks past the restaurant (“Mia & Sebastian’s Theme”). Moved by his talent, she enters to watch him play, but Sebastian is promptly fired for his disobedience. As he walks out, Mia attempts to compliment his playing, but he coldly passes her in his frustration.
Months later, Mia is at another party and notices Sebastian again, now playing as the keyboardist for a 1980s pop cover band. She playfully irks him by requesting the band to play “I Ran (So Far Away)“by A Flock of Seagulls. After the gig, the two walk together to find their cars. They lament being in each other’s company, despite the clear chemistry between them (“A Lovely Night”).
Sebastian takes her to a jazz club, explaining his intense love for jazz and his aspirations of running his own club, as well as reinforcing her passion as an actress. They warm up to each other (“City of Stars“). Sebastian asks her to a screening of Rebel Without a Cause at a theater. While getting ready for her date with Sebastian, Greg (Finn Wittrock), a man she has been seeing, shows up for a scheduled date. Mia reluctantly goes on the double date with Greg and his brother. She feels out of place on the date and abruptly leaves to rush to the theater, managing to find Sebastian just as the film starts. They begin to move in for a kiss but are interrupted when the film fails to play. Mia and Sebastian finish their date at the Griffith Observatory and dance (“Planetarium”).
Mia, after several more failed auditions, decides to write a personal single-actress play, So Long, Boulder City, at Sebastian’s suggestion. Sebastian becomes a regular performer at the jazz bar and the two move in together.
Classification 12A