In the city of Los Angeles which is saturated with Hollywood dreams, an aspiring actress Mia is desperate to land a role while Sebastian struggles to make a living as a jazz pianist with both of them pursuing higher ambitions to make it big. They realize they are destined to be together after getting along at a party, but misfiring professional lives takes a toll on their relationship as they struggle to keep it afloat amongst challenging situations!
Language:
English
Running Time:
128 min
Rating:
PG-13 (MPAA)
Release date:
08 December 2016
Directed by:
Damien Chazelle
Produced by:
Fred Berger
Gary Gilbert
Jordan Horowitz
Marc Platt
Written by:
Damien Chazelle
Starring:
Emma Stone
Ryan Gosling
JK Simmons
Anna Chazelle
Rosemarie DeWitt
Callie Hernandez
Music by:
Justin Hurwitz
Shot by:
Linus Sandgren
Editing by:
Tom Cross
Distributed by:
Alfa Films
Golden Village Pictures
Lionsgate
Studio Canal
Summit Entertainment

What’s Hot

  • Linus Sandgren’s cinematography imparts the right texture to this dreamy narrative with fast paced movements and brilliant frames and long tracking shots to cover the songs that are featured on a wide and colorful canvas. Having been shot in cinemascope it lends a unique visual experience to soak in the aforementioned aspects!
  • Ryan Gosling as Sebastian and Emma Stone as Mia have channeled their talent and experience in exuberant fashion to emanate such stellar chemistry on screen. Emma in particular steals the spotlight in the various auditions she takes part, especially the one which seamlessly transforms into the “Fools who dream” song!
  • Damien Chazelle raises the screenplay to levels that deserve special mention for the way in which crucial parts of the movie are structured. It was a great touch to have the narratives from the point of view of Ryan and Emma trace their path to their first meet at the restaurant. The ending marked another engaging piece of screenplay that shows a parallel life for Ryan and Emma!
  • Justin Hurwitz weaves magic with his Music as the songs engulf the viewers in a surreal experience of a nostalgia-inducing musical journey. The romantic numbers were a league above the rest with “A Lovely Night”, “City of Starts” ruling the roost apart from the theme music. The dance choreography played an equal part in making the opening numbers and the dance duets a treat to watch!

What’s Not

  • The movie has so much going for it technically that it hardly makes us realize that the underlying story does not grab our attention to any extent. The core plot is so very dated, thin and plain making the overall experience just an excuse to bide time between the expansive songs and dance numbers that provide the entertainment.
  • The usage of a few songs with the prime intention to justify the ‘musical’ tag rather than to use them as part of the narrative, seems such a blatant disregard from the part of the director. The opening numbers “Another Day of Sun” and “Someone in the Crowd” are prime examples for the case as seem to be of no significance to the story whatsoever – a bad precedent to some of the really well utilized numbers that feature later in the movie!

Badges

Acting
Music
Cinematography

Verdict

Verdict Stamp

A movie that entertains from start to finish has to have a lot of heart shown from the cast and technical crew - “LaLa Land” is fortunate to enjoy the benefits of just that kind of a pristine effort. A grandiose presentation of songs, dance and visuals serves as the perfect Glossy cover-up for a drifting story!