You’ll go ga ga for La La
La La Land (M, 128 mins) Directed Damien Chazelle
‘‘And not a spark in sight, What a waste of a lovely night.’’
Ten minutes in and Damien Chazelle’s musical seemed like one of the big disappointments of 2016. After all of the superlatives and hype coming out of America, this thoroughly modern update of the traditional old school Hollywood musical appeared to display the worst excesses of America’s sung story tradition.
An opening number set in a traffic jam here, mumbled lyrics there – it felt like the kind of thing regularly parodied by Whose Line is It Anyway?, The Simpsons and in the Coen Brothers’ recent Hail, Caesar! But then gradually La La Land gets its hooks (and harmonies) into you and by the end I was entranced by its love letter to Los Angeles, bittersweet romance and songs that are still stuck in my head.
At its heart, La La is the story of Mia (Emma Stone) and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling). She is a wannabe actress paying the bills by working as a barista on the Warner Bros lot. He is a disillusioned jazz pianist, trying to find his place in a world where ‘‘Samba tapas’’ is all the rage.
Meeting at a low ebb for both of them, the pair’s regular coincidental coming-togethers convince them they should support each other to follow their dreams.
So while Mia tries to land a part on a drama and launch her onewoman stage show, Sebastian joins cross-over act The Messengers in the hope of securing enough money to open a jazz club. But will personal success come at the cost of their mutual happiness?
Yes, Chazelle’s (Whiplash) mix of screwball comedy and Busby Berkeley-esque dance numbers might evoke memories of Singing in the Rain or High Society, but it’s love story feels closer to 1990s tales like Jerry Maguire and Sliding Doors mixed with the more recent relationship concerns raised by the likes of 500 Days of Summer and Blue Valentine. Part of the movie’s compelling nature is its narrative twists and turns and slightly non-linear structure.
It also helps that it boasts two appealing leads. Anyone who has seen Crazy Stupid Love will know the chemistry Stone and Gosling can engender and here both enhance their individual reputations (She can sing, he can dance and play the piano) and their stock as Hollywood’s best cinematic pairing since Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks.
Backed by a strong supporting cast, evocative tunesand some beautiful cinematic set pieces, Stone and Gosling get to display their ‘‘triple-threat’’ wares.
Dreamy, heartfelt and heartwrenching all at once, La La Land offers perfect summer’s night entertainment.
‘‘Here’s to the ones who dream, Crazy as they may seem, Here’s to the hearts that break, Here’s to the mess we make.’’ – James Croot