Joyce Heinen’s review published on Letterboxd:
Even if you’re not a fan of musicals, “La La Land” will mesmerize you. The ode to love, passion, creativity and dreams by director Damien Chazelle stands out and manages never to fall into clichés.
Chazelle uses two characters to tell the story about people who desperately want to make it in Hollywood. Emma Stone plays Mia, a waitress who wants to be an actress. But she is dealing with disappointments and rejections. Ryan Gosling has an even bigger goal as Sebastian, to become a pure jazz musician without any commercial concessions. But he works at a restaurant where nobody really listens to him. But Mia does and they go on an incredibly journey together, trying to pursue their dreams.
“La La Land” isn’t just an ode to all those themes I mentioned earlier, but also an ode to the classic film and classic musical. Nowadays musicals aren’t what they used to be, but “La La Land” got it right. The characters don’t suddenly burst into song, the songs all seamlessly weave into the story.
It’s the most beautiful film I’ve seen in 2016, it constantly amazed me and it put a big fat smile on my face. The film looks beautiful. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling have perfect chemistry and they are both sublime in their roles. The music is fantastic and I loved every minute of “La La Land”.
“La La Land”. And instant classic that many movie makers should take as an example.
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