Thursday, January 26, 2017

Film Review - La La Land (2016)

La La Land is written and directed by Damien Chazelle and stars Emma Stone as Mia a young actress working on a studio lot in LA and trying to get her big break into the business one night at a bar she meets Seb (Ryan Gosling) a jazz enthusiast hoping to find his big break as well and the two fall in love though both may come to realise their dreams could come at a price.

La La Land for me feels very much like Arrival for me in that I am of 2 minds on it I think that Chazelle is a very talented man having also written the script for 10 Cloverfield Lane this year as well and he directs this film very well in terms of the production, the performances and the musical sequences even though his script does feel a little patchy at times.

But apart from that the film as a whole didn't really do that much for me though I can totally understand why it has woven such a spell over so many that have seen it it is a very romantic film, a very sweet film, a very nice film and it is very loving about Hollywood and the history it has in terms of its eras as well as the city of Los Angeles itself and Stone and Gosling are two very loveable leads but I don't really like nice and sweet films all that much I like the darker films the "blood in the water" you could say.

And one film that did that as well as look at that city was 1992's The Player directed by Robert Altman which was a much more cynical look at the industry and a film I consider a big favourite of mine and this movie as well made as it is (and it is a very handsome production) I just don't think is as good as that film is in the sense that it was much more in my tastes film wise than La La Land is.

And so that was La La Land, a film I have mixed feelings about even though I can see why it has won over so many, 2 and a half out of 5.

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