Just GO! You will love La La Land–Great Holiday Movie

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TIFF Peoples Choice Award_La La Land_Movie Review @DownshiftingPRO

I sighed… “I loved that movie,” I said. “I loved it all: the dancing, the romance… the jazz”.  I was reeling from all the imagery that was magical… ‘magical realism’ I told my husband.  “That part where they were dancing in the planetarium amongst the starts… that was magical realism.” I assured him. I was tickled pink at the details in the movie.  It has been a long time since I’d seen a movie with a nod to this and a tip of the hat to that – in song and dance.  I thought of Moulin Rouge and Across the Universe, two other iconic modern musicals that you were not expecting but surprised you nonetheless.

As we drove home, I contemplated what part I loved the most.  I couldn’t decide right away. I kept hearing the jazz playing in my head.  I love jazz… All I could think of was that I had to go back to Montreal in the summer to take in some live jazz in a bar… like Biddles (now called the House of Jazz). I remembered how I discovered Jazz at the festival on hot summer nights in my youth.

Miles away in another province in much colder weather, we came to a stop.  I turned to my husband and swooned.  “I loved that movie,” I said again. “What did you think?” I asked hopefully, oh so hopefully.  I’m middle-aged women with an incurable crush on Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. I was hoping in my heart of hearts that he would love it just as much as I did, be mesmerized with the musical score and the romantic storyline…. sigh… He took a breath, hesitated just an instant and then said: “Well…”

“STOP. Lie to me if you have to” I said. I was not ready for my bubble to burst… With a chuckle, he turned to me and said: “I loved it”. “Good,” I said. “That’s what I thought.”

There will be many a man, that if he knows what’s good for him, will respond with just those three words: “I loved it.”  Take my advise if you ever want to keep your wife or girlfriend or partner happy as he/she walks out of La La Land all full of love and hope and romance with jazz tunes still ringing in their ears, you will ensure your lover knows that you loved it.

I had been anxiously anticipating La La Land since waiting on hold for tickets at the North American premiere at TIFF.  I had forsaken my first call to get a set of tickets for Weirdos (a great Canadian indie film starting my best friend’s daughter) just so I could see it at the Toronto International Film Festival but that delay in calling meant that I would have to wait almost three months to see La La Land on the big screen. By the time I got through, the tickets to La La Land were completely sold out.

With its premiere at TIFF, the buzz had said the movie was magical.  It was a throwback to old-style  Hollywood musicals. It had a fantastic original score (by Justin Hurwitz). It was colourful and moody.  Funny and refreshingly innocent.  All of this and the mesmerizing chemistry that Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling bring to the big screen.  That type of box-office-blockbuster-movie-making chemistry that can only be seen in the movies but imagined in our hearts.

We loved Emma and Ryan in Crazy, Stupid, Love.  The scene where he first meets her at a bar and gives her the stupidest pick-up line ever and much to our surprise she does not give in to his charms.  Only to return to the bar, grab him and kiss him… well, since that scene, we’ve never looked back.  We’ve bought that chemistry in 2011 and in La La Land they did not disappoint.

Emma Stone plays Mia, a young struggling actress/barista that finds herself repeatedly running into Sebastian, Ryan Gosling, a jaded jazz piano player. Sebastian has been scammed out of his dream job, owning a jazz bar, is struggling,  without direction or purpose. Their paths cross again at a party and on a quest to find her car, they connect over song and dance and music.  This movie is about unrequited dreams and how two people can help each other find their path to success and happiness.

The movie unfolds as the two struggle to make their dreams come true.  It is a romance and staying together when times are lean and dreams are set aside in order to pay the bills.  I’m sure this story plays out each and every day in tinsel town.

The whole film has a killer soundtrack that will make you long for the days gone by when jazz was king and romance unfurled in the imagination of the moviegoer. The days when couples only sat on beds or were dressing in the light of the morning sun to imply that there had been some action going on. It has the innocence of movies that had no corse language or nudity. Like I said, it was refreshing.

It is these subtleties that make La La Land so amazing.  Our son asked what time period the movie was set in.  It was hard to tell as the cars were both old (a convertible with a tape deck for him) and modern (an electric Prius for her).  The costumes throughout were a throwback to 1950’s sundresses with slim waists and skirts that twirled when she dance. He wore two-toned oxfords and skinny ties. Then they would answered their cell phones so it would bring you back to present day.

And yes, that was Emma Stone dancing and Ryan Gosling playing the piano.  My husband said that Gosling had learned to play the piano for this role.  You would never know it (if you are non-musician like me) but you could tell every once in a while when Emma over rotated or misstepped that dancing was not her first talent.  Looking into the camera with those huge green eyes, filling them with puddles of tears at the opportune moment certainly is.  Emma Stone mentioned in an interview that they had to learn to tap dance and waltz with Mandy Moore, the film’s choreographer.

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As I listened to spinets of the soundtrack when I got home, I fell more in love with the plot and the dance numbers.  I just wish there were more of them.  My husband made a very good observation:  the opening dance sequence was just great but it promised you more than it delivered in the rest of the film.  All great musical have large dance numbers, in the beginning, middle and end of a movie.  La La Land delivered the first one but sadly fell short of the middle and final dance numbers. There was a brief number with Mia and her roommate and of course the duet at the park but overall less dance numbers that we thought.  The ending was surprising and poignant.  Not what I expected.  Truth be told it was a disappointment for me.

I have to agree with my husband that I wanted to see more dance numbers. I wanted more singing.  I asked him again a bit later on: “How did you like the movie, really?”

“I loved the first 25 minutes,” my husband answered.

“I loved it so much that I had to write about it… right away… and tell people… to see it.” I said. Clearly,  the magic had not worn off on me. So I am telling you now:

YOU.HAVE.TO.SEE.LA.LA.LAND … immediately… Trust me, you’ll want to see it twice (I will).

Rating

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Academy Awards

  • Academy Award Nominations and Wins (announced Dec. 12, 2016)
  • Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
  • Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy—Emma Stone – Winner
  • Best Director – Motion Picture—Damien Chazelle – Winner
  • Best Achievement in Cinematography – Winner
  • Best Achievement in Production Design – Winner
  • Best Original Song – Motion Picture—”City of Stars” Music by Justin Hurwitz & Lyrics by Benj asek & Justin Paul – Winner
  • Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy—Ryan Gosling
  • Best Screenplay – Motion Picture—Damien Chazelle
  • Best Original Score – Motion Picture—Justin Hurwitz – Winner
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Margarita Ibbott is a travel and lifestyle blogger. She blogs about travel in Canada, the United States and Europe giving practical advice through restaurant, hotel and attraction reviews. She writes for DownshiftingPRO.com and other online media outlets.