A dazzling, dizzying, exhilarating experience

Rating: 8/10 (23 January 2017)

With a soundtrack composed of marvelous contemporary jazz tunes, along with traditional classics of the genre (as well as a few familiar 1980s songs, to boot), terrific acting, singing and dancing performances, "La La Land" is not only one of the best films of 2016, but is the leading contender for a sack full of Academy Awards and an experience that will no doubt leave one with a tear in their eye and a giddy, silly smile after it's all over.
Written and directed by Damien Chazelle ("10 Cloverfield Lane," "Whiplash"), the movie hearkens back to the days of the big, bold, extravagant Hollywood musicals by Busby Berkeley, Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire and others, but adds enough of a modern touch with a sweet love story and extremely attractive leads (Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone) that even jaded 21st century audiences will stand and cheer at its conclusion. No stranger to the musical format, having directed both "Whiplash" and "Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench," and a jazz percussionist himself, Chazelle captures the mood perfectly as Sebastian (Gosling, "The Big Short," "The Nice Guys") is a down-on-his-luck pianist who loves free jazz (even at the expense of a paying gig tinkling out Christmas tunes), and Mia (Stone, "Birdman," "Battle Of the Sexes"), a put-upon Starbuck's employee and aspiring actress who meet not-so-cute in stifling Los Angeles traffic.
Since they are immediately repelled and repulsed by one another, we know of course they will eventually fall in love. After going through growing pains in their relationship (she has to drop a decent, but boring beau, Finn Wittrock, "The Big Short") in the process, while his as awkward as a middle schooler on his first date.
Later, Sebastian, who dreams of owning his own nightclub, is invited to join a contemporary jazz combo, Messenger, fronted by pop musician John Legend, while Mia writes her own one-woman play based upon her childhood in Arizona (where Stone was actually born).
The stress of these divergent careers (he is always on the road, she pines for him, but has her own life to lead), however, takes its toll on the love affair and soon becomes the conflict that sets up the third act. Will Sebastian become a success and get his own establishment? Will Mia make it big as an actress?
Well, the viewer will just have to see for themselves, but for this scribbler, "La La Land" was a wonderfully exhilarating homage to the Golden Age of Hollywood, but one which does not gloss over the seedier side of the city as well a realistic look at what it takes to put everything on the line for a shot at a few minutes in the spotlight. Some of the more amazing sequences include the rousing opening number ("Another Day In the Sun"), in which dozens of singers and dancers stop LA traffic - literally; Mia puts her heart into her auditions, only to have them interrupted or cut short, losing their effectiveness; Sebastian and Mia dance through space at the Griffith Park Observatory; he plays to a sellout crowd as a member of Legend's bland, but successful band; and a beautiful concluding montage which shows how different things could have been (or does it show how things REALLY were? Hmmm ...).
Gosling, who earned an Oscar nomination for 2006's "Half-Nelson," is sweet and engaging here as the passionate pianist who is obsessed with the traditional performers, so much so that he ignored the musical genre's future potential with a whole new generation of fans. He won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy and is a lock for a second Academy Award nomination.
Meanwhile, I dare say that Stone, whose turn as the self-destructive daughter in "Birdman" a few years ago earned her first Oscar nod, was never better and has a Golden Globe herself to prove it. With large blue eyes flashing with both inner joy and heart-aching pathos, it would be a major crime if she is also not recognized by the Academy.
Good supporting work is added by Legend, Tom Everett Scott ("That Thing You Do") and J.K. Simmons (Oscar winner for "Whiplash"), but this enterprise belongs to Gosling and Stone almost 100 percent, and their argument scene is one of the more emotional moments of any film this year.
With fun, thoughtful and clever tunes (including "City Of Stars," "Someone In the Crowd," "A Lovely Night," "Start a Fire," and "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" among others), terrific design detail (David Wasco, a Quentin Tarantino favorite) and stunning cinematography by Linus Sandgren ("Joy," "American Hustle"), "La La Land" is a dazzling, dizzying, exhilarating experience and would seemingly be the picture to beat unless the Academy wants to send a diversity message and choose "Moonlight" or vote for the heavily dramatic "Manchester By the Sea."
If I had a ballot, though, I might just choose this film to become the first musical since "Chicago" in 2002 to claim the Best Picture statuette, but, then again, no one has yet extended that privilege to me, so I will just have to dream, won't I? Grade: A-