Kai White’s review published on Letterboxd:
Well, nobody's more surprised than I am, but I really quite enjoyed this.
While I normally spend my time trying to unearth a rarity from some far-flung country's past, I am making a point for the next month or so to start digesting some of "newer" Hollywood, and that journey begins with La La Land. I honestly figured from what little I knew about it that it was just America's movie industry fellating itself on screen yet again. That isn't entirely wrong, but it is that filtered through what I can best describe as a The Young Girls of Rochefort-inspired lens. Whoever made this certainly got the charm right, anyway.
Combining technical wizardry and all those colors (yes, please), it takes a very pedestrian plot and throws all the song and dance at it that you can bottle up in two hours. Nits can be picked about the acting and the song quality, as well ... except for that "Start A Fire" song by The Messengers, get out of here with how good that was. But if I ever think back on this, I'm going to remember the pleasant pastiche of Jacques Demy and Max Ophuls and probably some others that don't immediately come to mind. Very, very surprising to see such a love letter to old masters.
Anyway, if my cynical, Hollywood-despising rear end can get into it, you probably can, too.
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