A Solid Entry In The Dangerous Territory of Musicals

Rating: 7/10 (7 January 2017)

There are good news and bad news.
The good news is that, if you know nothing about musicals, then La La Land is going to tell you all about the creme de la creme: Top Hat, An American In Paris, Mary Poppins, Singin' In The Rain (both in very specific references) and, the most obvious influence of all, especially in terms of characters and narrative, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Not only is the essential history of musicals part of this film, but everything's also impeccably executed. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are both remarkably subtle as well, and for once in a colorful Hollywood romance, none of the main characters steps over the other. Note that there's a Woody Allen sleeping in Gosling's character: a very traditional artist who refuses to open up to other people's tastes and opinions (not sure if mentioning Mr. Allen is a compliment or not). But seriously, even the most skeptics of you about musicals will have a good time.
The bad news is that this is one long, long, long movie that ends a million consecutive times. Don't you hate it when you're watching a movie and you get the feeling that it ends a first time, then it ends again, then again, and again, and again to the extent that you no longer know if it's ever going to end at all? The director Damien Chazelle is also developing his gimmicks that he might be unfortunately mistaking for trademark: fast consecutive inserts, referencing anecdotes about great musicians, building sonic climax and breaking it abruptly... Also, if you're expecting to find some of the tension remaining from Chazelle's previous coup-de-maÃ®tre Whiplash, you won't because he has moved on to a more contemplative, more harmonious and less scientific place about music and he wants everybody to know it. To sum up the major difference between Whiplash and La La Land in terms of experience as a spectator: you eat Whiplash and you sip La La Land.
By the way, you can thank the producers for approving of a not-so-happy-after-all ending for an A-list Hollywood movie. HALLELUJAH!
You might get bored here and there. However you should be convinced by the likability of the cast, the delicious 40's three-color-strip-referencing cinematography and the shockingly impressive Steadicam work. La La Land will also manage to steal a few good laughs from you.