La La Land was a captivating sensory adventure

Rating: 8/10 (30 January 2017)

The world was magical, so I put up with intermittent excessive song and dance. An ever-present current of warm piano gave the film a sense of unity that felt reminiscent of Chazelle's prior film, Whiplash. I did not care much for the bland characters and their cliché plights, but Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone were not the central characters of this film...the sets, the music, and Los Angeles were the focus. Over time, my affinity for the film has dwindled, but that does not discredit the pleasure I had in watching it for the first time. As a whole La La Land was a captivating sensory adventure that was pleasing from start to finish.