100

Ever since I decided to adopt a 100-point ranking system for my reviews I’ve often pondered when, or if, I would feel comfortable assigning any film the top mark. I’ve even found myself putting off writing reviews for some of my all-time favourites not only because I don’t have enough confidence in myself to really articulate why I adore them so much, but also because I didn’t know whether or not I would feel right giving them the full hundred (if indeed I wanted to). I’ve long been torn on how objective I should be when reviewing and ranking a film, as sometimes I can appreciate the technical aspects of a piece without it ever really connecting with it, and on other occasions I can appreciate a number of criticisms despite being totally won over by a movie. I know there's no right or wrong way, and most of my favourite reviewers on here seem to have their own method of doing so, although I'm still not sure what mine should be.

In truth I should probably just stop worrying too much and just go with whatever score first comes into my head, but I do think there’s value in spending time mulling over the respective qualities and drawbacks of a film and basing my score on more measured reasoning. My reservations of giving this lofty score also stem from the fact that I feel partially inadequate and unequipped to do so; can someone who’s seen so little of the classics proclaim a modern day film to be effectively as good as it gets? I’ve almost felt like once I sit down and watch Citizen Kane, Singin’ in the Rain, Vertigo, Taxi Driver et al. I’ll finally be able to gain a better appreciation of what the very best cinema has to offer is truly is… but that could take a while. So, with that in mind, I’m saying fuck objectivity, just go with my gut – and my gut, along with my heart, mind and soul, screams that La La Land is all I could ever ask for or want from a movie.

I’ve been following the reactions to this film for some time and have been interested in how there’s been some more recent and public criticism of it, which I believe seemed to grow in prominence after its record 14 Academy Award nominations that were announced back in January. It did make me think that perhaps it wasn’t going to be the masterpiece I’d long assumed it would be, but now having seen it I can’t quite describe how delighted I am that any doubts I might have had were unfounded. I’m not a musicals guy at all, but from the opening highway sequence to the bittersweet, gut-punching final epilogue, I was totally spellbound. The film won me over within minutes and not once did my attention or gaze waver, and all the while I could feel my affection for it growing exponentially. All of this talk of it being a vapid and clichéd excuse for Hollywood to engage in another masturbatory session is nothing more than noise to me; when a film so joyous and creative is making my heart soar little else come into consideration.

Aside from simply considering how La La Land left me with a cheek-bursting grin for two hours, from a technical standpoint it proves to be a breathtaking exercise in what can be achieved in film. Everything from the incredibly arranged choreography and the toe-tappingly addictive score to the majestic cinematography makes the entire viewing experience feel nothing short of euphoric, with every scene and every shot awash with a variety of treats for the senses. All of these elements form this symbiotic relationship that makes La La Land the greatest celebration of the true potential of seeing stories unfold on big screen that I’ve ever seen. Every scene, every moment is bristling with something to dazzle you and whatever one may think of what some might say is yet another Hollywood love story, I don’t see how these other aspects can be written off or dismissed as anything short of magnificent. Criticism of the narrative, however, to me seems to be a misunderstanding or misappropriation of what La La Land is trying to achieve, or what sort of a film it is. I also believe there’s an awful lot more going on over the course of its runtime that some have given it credit for.

What director Damien Chazelle explored so wondrously in 2014's Whiplash was the question of how much can justifiably be sacrificed by someone in search of true greatness. In La La Land, it is less about greatness and more about simply following's one passion, but still the film ponders on how many of life's cruel realities must be thrown at you before you decide to call it quits. For both Mia and for Seb this is the overarching theme of both of their stories, albeit with the caveat of their blossoming relationship and how that complicates matters thrown into the mix. You don't have to be an aspiring actress or musician to relate to this quandary, and all but the very luckiest of those with a creative passion will have had these sort of difficult, potentially life-altering decisions to deal with at some point. A tale of two failing creative types falling for each other in Los Angeles might well be a well-trodden path but with so much majesty and beauty woven throughout this film, is it really that bad to just allow for some old school romanticism from time to time? When it's presented with such fevered and magical excellence I struggle to see how one can have such doubts.

Speaking of majesty, beauty and romanticism, one cannot craft this gushing review without some words on Emma Stone's performance here. No actress could have been better suited to this role, and whilst I've long been pulling for Amy Adams and latterly Natalie Portman this awards season, I have to hold my hands up and say that the golden statuette she will surely be taking home tomorrow tonight will be fully deserved. Stone has an on-screen presence that a select few actresses working today can come close to matching, and from the scenes in which her confidence and bubbly exuberance come to the fore to the more tender, heart-wrenching moments that her character endures, her emotive and expressive display demands your attention for every moment she appears on screen, even with all of the other wonderful things going on around her. I include Ryan Gosling as one of those things, who himself is at the peak of his powers - most notably with increasingly-impressive comic timing - but in truth this was always Stone's show to steal.

And what a show it is. On a surface level La La Land is a glistening bundle of fun, bursting at the seams with originality and incredible technicality, but there's also a sombre and earnest feeling that underpins it all, preventing it from floating away amidst its own happy-clappy positivity. One of the key motifs of the film is the trade-off between sticking with traditions or changing for the sake of innovation, and personally, I found La La Land to be an exquisite example of somehow achieving both - you might well have seen films like this before, but you'll never have seen a film quite like this. It takes what made so many beloved Hollywood-produced musicals so great and has fused those with all of the enhanced possibilities made possible by modern cinema to ensure that it will craft its own lasting legacy for the years and decades to come. Here's to a happy one-hundred.