La La Land
Shane Howell

Review by Shane Howell

La La Land 2016

★★★★★

Watched 07 Jan 2017

I saw this over a week ago, and I haven't written a review yet because I legitimately thought that this movie was too good to be true and needed time to realistically reflect. But nothing changed. This movie is damn near perfect, and one of the most unique experiences I have ever had sitting in a movie theater.
Holy. Shit. The music. The performances. The cinematography. The structure. The script (That dinner table scene!!!). I don't even know where to begin. Therefore, I'll start at the beginning.
From the moment the old-school production credits began, I knew I was in for a treat. Follow that with an old-school musical number about sunshine in LA. and I knew I was in for an EXPERIENCE.
The way this film chooses to handle (and at times personify) music is so unique, and since seeing this film I haven't listened to music the same. I have listened to so much jazz since seeing it. It made me want to save it.
Everything about it is so great that I don't even want to go into everything specifically, because I genuinely have no complaints. The one thing I was expecting to complain about was a feel-good musical, been-there-done-that, low stakes love story, even if it was a good one. But this film isn't that. It is utterly heartbreaking, albeit a little hopeful. This is an uplifting film that is filled with pain at its core. It's a timeless, painfully relatable story filled with equally timeless, painfully relatable characters. That is what makes this film brilliant, and unlike anything I have ever experienced before. I can't wait to go back to La La Land soon.

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