'La La Land' Film Review
'La La Land' tells the story of a jazz pianist who falls in love with an aspiring actress in Los Angeles. It's a film that critics are raving about for its sense of nostalgia, if nothing more.
‘La La Land’ is one of those films that requires a little afterthought; this is mainly due to the fact that the film delves into the idea of ‘what could have been’, though due to its overwhelming habit of reminiscing, it becomes too much to fully absorb. It is difficult to pinpoint what limited this film’s ability to provide audiences with a completely euphoric experience.
Perhaps it was the pacing. At times, scenes dragged and the viewer’s attention span waned.
Perhaps it was the lack of tension during the first hour, as much of the film follows two characters that appear to dislike each other in the typical rom-com kind of way. Clichés are fine if something new is added to the mix, instead of simply reliving the past – which ‘La La Land’ quite purposely did throughout.
Or maybe it comes down to the changing and often misleading tone from beginning to end. It was very much a musical during its orientation; though come the conclusion, the numbers had become almost non-existent - often irrelevant to the progression of the main story arc.
A struggling storyline, together with a weakly strung together plot is only but a frame to hang the musical pieces on. ‘La La Land’ strives to create a string of pearls, but instead strings each of its pearls chaotically after prematurely ripping them out of the clam in an attempt to achieve instant success. But when many of the musical pieces are mediocre at best, the viewer is left waiting awkwardly until the next song begins.
Many scenes offer themselves as redundant, barely furthering the plot in any way; this is a shame, as ‘La La Land’ is cinematically beautiful and a real treat to the eye, but tired scenes leave the audience very aware of their place in the cinema, rather than being immersed in the magic upon the silver screen. The audience should be left wanting more when the credits roll, but sadly this is not the case with ‘La La Land’.
Whatever it was that prevented it from being the magically memorable film the trailers led people to expect, 'La La Land' left many disappointed – or perhaps worse - apathetic. The film missed its opportunity to be a musical fantasy and entrenched itself so far into realism that the audience couldn't suspend their disbelief.
However, it wasn’t all bad. There were good moments of the film, like Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling's first encounter during L.A. traffic. The pair’s incredible onscreen chemistry (think ‘Crazy In Love’) was, despite all other factors in the film, believable.
While its creators deserve a pat on the back for their respectful nod to the golden Hollywood era, 'La La Land' tries too hard to emulate the effect of dancers such as Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, or singers like Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand. Gosling and John Legend are by far the strongest voices - because singing is where they started out. Though Stone is arguably one of the more talented young actresses of our time – both in comedy and drama – her vocals were limited to a half-hearted breathy whisper that lacked emotion – another detriment to the tone of the film.
Though many viewers are divided in their opinions, ‘La La Land’ is a delightfully pretty film to gaze upon while letting your mind wonder elsewhere. If you’re looking for a solid story arc and engaging characters you can invest in, this film is not the one for you.
