Catchy songs, great characters, beautifully shot and expertly performed

Rating: 9/10 (26 May 2017)

La La Land is a musical that tells the story of three different loves stories, Mia (Stone) and Sebastian (Gosling) developing a romantic relationship set in Hollywood. The other two love stories revolve around Mia and Sebastian's love for their respective career choices, Mia with acting and Sebastian with jazz music. Both of them are struggling to make it in the world, but as they gain momentum their romantic relationship starts to disintegrate.
This is a story that has been done before, Sebastian wants to own his own jazz club but is struggling to make money because the world around him wants him to compromise his taste of music with popular current music. Mia wants to make it as an actress but cannot take rejection after rejection after rejection. La La Land however subverts the musical genre and gives the characters some great songs and great characterization. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are great in the roles, especially Emma Stone, they still have great chemistry even after 2 movies, (Gangster Squad and Crazy, Stupid, Love) and for people who have never really sung before, they do an great job, but they are not the real stars of the movie, the real star is setting, Hollywood.
Hollywood is beautifully shot in the movie, the direction and cinematography are immaculate. Stellar use of long takes and moving cameras and used to show the beauty of the city. The city is really able to become its own character, it does almost become the antagonist of the story for both Mia and Sebastian, not only for their dreams and aspirations but also for their relationship. It is almost hypnotizing how the film almost draws you into the scene, not only with the setting but also the songs. The songs are well done, they give off an aura of old time classic 1950's music but also sound modern enough for young people to enjoy. However, the use of music sometimes overstays its welcome.
La La Land is around two hours long but honestly it doesn't need to be, there are some scenes that just feel like they were included because they look pleasing to the eye, and they do, however it does not justify its means of existing. The scenes where Mia and Sebastian are falling in love last around ten to fifteen minutes but feel like thirty and contain no dialogue, so it can actually be done in around five minutes of screen time. There are a myriad of dance breaks which are supposed to show the chemistry between Mia and Sebastian, but there are at least three scenes that already do that before they finally spark a connection. Also as for other flaws, some of the lip singing done by supporting members of the cast, for example Mia's roommates or the people singing 'Another Day of Sun' are pretty transparent and while I do think the ending was poignant and sticks true to the overall message of the film, I could do without the final montage.
Overall La La Land is a very enjoyable time at the movies, if you love musicals you will have a blast with this one, if you don't like musicals you will probably hate this, but you could enjoy it for the beautiful shots, scenery and acting. Out of the two movies directed by Damien Chazelle, I do prefer Whiplash but the movie is still very engaging, I never found my self escaping to my very own La La Land.