85/100

A beautiful dream world is shown in La La Land, but is it all a dream or is it actually real life? Is it truly a City of Stars?

Emma Stone delivers a fantastic performance in Mia, as a dreamer and an aspiring actress. Every time she doesn’t get a call back, we wonder why. She always seems to be on the verge of a big break and we’re all hoping for her to get there. She is even seen giving a fantastic performance before someone interrupts her for a call. It only makes sense that she gives up on her dream, right? No because that is not what this movie is about. This film is about all us dreamers, but as with Mia, we need help. We need a… Sebastian. Did we need Ryan Gosling to give another heartbreaking performance as struggling jazz musician Sebastian helping Mia realize her dreams, just like she did for him? All for the love he has for her and her dream? Even at the stake of losing her? Yes, absolutely we did.

La La Land might have the dreamy, Hollywood-themed sets and background (thanks to fantastic cinematography and production design), but at its core, it can be as dreary as human life could be. In the guise of all the beauty, we see fights between two people we want to be together forever occur, we see art getting “murdered” for popularity, we see people appreciate what they have less and less, etc. As Sebastian says, “They worship everything and they value nothing.”. And there is nothing we can do about it but watch and root for our two lead characters to fulfill their dreams. 

Accompanied with the fantastic lead performances is the MVP of this film: Justin Hurwitz (consistent Damien Chazelle collaborator). What a score. ❤️ Honestly too good… I am literally listening to the soundtrack on Spotify while typing out this review. As with everyone who watches this film, Mia & Sebastian’s theme is stuck in our heads and will cause more and more pain the more and more we listen to it. City of Stars is fantastic and gives some sort of nostalgic feel when coupled with the main theme. Audition (The Fools Who Dream) is perfect to represent the core values of this film and all us dreamers. 

Finally, the last person I have to talk about is my favourite young, modern director in Damien Chazelle. As young as he might be in terms of director years, his movies have the works of an experienced, renowned filmmaker. Some of the moments in this film captured by Chazelle in his unique way is what makes this movie stay in our minds and hearts far longer than many other romance films could. Their first walk down the hill, the lead up to their first kiss, and obviously the absolutely fabulous “what could have been” climax sequence… just wow. Whiplash is my favourite movie of his, but this film proved that he is here to stay. And then Babylon just pushed him to another echelon for me. No one can make films like him honestly. 

To all you dreamers out there, keep on pushing for what you want to do. Don’t undermine yourself and achieve all that you can while you’re here on this planet. Hopefully we’ll each open our own Seb’s and be satisfied with what we’ve done during our time here. ✨