A great moment here and there, but overall "only" a good movie

Rating: 6/10 (6 March 2017)

"La La Land" is an American movie from 2016 and little needs to be said about the cast and production here. It runs for slightly over 2 hours and is the most recent work by writer and director Damien Chazelle. The two leads are Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. Chazelle won an Oscar for his direction, while Stone took home glory for her performance. The movie itself probably lost as close as you could imagine in the Best Picture category. Now about the film: Many people say that this movie is the return of old Hollywood musicals and this is partially true. While the film is set in the 21st century, the music, costumes and the entire atmosphere have something that feels extremely retro all the time. Lets start with the music. It won Oscar for Song and Score and it is probably deserving. The two Oscar-nominated songs in the right context (the winner as a duet) work wonderfully and are among the parts that can be considered heart and soul of the film. But the real heart and soul here is Emma Stone's performance. She has excellent material to work with and still manages to elevate it on so many occasions. I believe that she was the perfect choice for the character here, in the lighter as well as heavier moments and honestly, there were certainly more of the latter. This is much more a drama than a comedy. As for Gosling, I am not so impressed. First of all, it needs to be said that he did not have the material as good as Stone's. We find out nothing (or not much) about his background really, about his family life, about his past and it's clear from start to finish that he will always play second fiddle to his co-lead. I may be a bit biased as I was never big on Gosling, but in terms of acting and face expressions I am not impressed by him in here either. He may not have great material to work with, but he also does not elevate it and ultimately one thing that this film may have needed for making an even bigger impact would have been a better male lead. It's pretty ridiculous they gave him a Golden Globe for that.
Now on a more positive note, Hurwitz' music was good for the most part. I already talked about the two most important songs, but I also liked the very first song of the film, maybe because I just like choir-like ensemble performances. As for the film itself, Chazelle did a pretty good job overall, especially if you take his age into consideration. It's a really impressive feat for somebody around the age of 30. The way he includes parallels is as smart as simple. It is effective nonetheless though and that's all that counts. One example would be the two scenes of a star entering the bar. Another would be the honking references. Another would be the "what if" sequence at the end. Another would be the elaboration on one partner sacrificing his dreams for the other, the one when Mia is supposed to follow her boyfriend who is really successful with his band. The other would be again the "what if" sequence at the end. And there are many more moments like this. You will recognize them if you see them. I also think this was a much more beautiful film visually than I expected it to be. No surprise and not undeserving that it won an Oscar for the cinematography.
Lastly, let me give you a parallel too, namely between this film and Whiplash, Chazelle's previous successful Oscar-winning work. I am not talking about the brief inclusion of J.K. Simmons here or about the fact that Chazelle is apparently right now the very best filmmaker on the planet when it comes to music-themed movies. I want to talk about love. The way he depicts it in both films, namely as a wonderful state that however becomes very fragile in the face of career development and a status that even needs to be sacrificed for individual happiness makes me wonder if I would categorize this movie as romance. Sure there are lines that somewhat make up for it like when they say they will always love each other, but overall, it's a pretty sober state of things when you see it in the grand scheme, here and in "Whiplash". Right/Wrong place, right/wrong time (i.e. coincidence) play a major role here and the message that you should never let your romantic feeling limit you in any way is absolute core for Chazelle apparently. And happiness is still happening eventually and there are no hard feelings as we learn from the final smile that may have ended their relationship once and for all and they will probably never see each other again afterward. And one final note, on why I believe that so many people relate to this movie. And this is one that has nothing to do with the subject of music at all. Stone's character could have been in any profession as we see a character fighting hard for her (professional) success and we all can relate to her and her struggles because even in completely different professions, we probably had been in exactly the same situation at some point. Now for a very last comment, let me ask you the question what you were thinking after Mia's one-person performance. Did you think her career was over after the mean comments? Then this tells you a lesson to care less what people think (about you or whatever) and let only your own opinion be the determining factor. Now your persuasion should be to watch "La La Land" as it is without a doubt one of the better films of 2016 and maybe even the best music film in recent time, even if I personally would not rank it anywhere near the vastly superior "Whiplash" or "Les Misérables".