Valerie’s review published on Letterboxd:
Like its title, La La Land takes a stereotype about the Los Angeles experience that most natives would find cringeworthy and spins it into something lovely. The film follows two dreamers who came to the city to follow their passion of the arts: Mia (Stone) wants to be an actress, while Sebastian (Gosling) one day hopes to open a jazz club. Both are struggling to see those dreams realized when they meet; she has found no success in auditions and is getting by working as a barista on the Warner Bros. lot, and he begrudgingly plays piano stints at bars and restaurants that don't allow him to showcase his talent. The two meet and fall in love, both pushing each other to find the successes they dream of while also butting heads about where to find value in their successes.
The music of La La Land is where the film finds its heart, and for all that it's in the style of Hollywood's heyday of musicals in the '50s, La La Land doesn't feel dated thanks to composer Justin Hurwitz's talented song writing and the fact Stone and Gosling don't come off like honed Broadway stars (despite Stone filming this following a successful run as the lead in Cabaret on Broadway). For all that both leads deliver fantastic musical performances, they still feel a bit rough around the edges, so when they transition into a perfectly choreographed song and dance number or suddenly start dancing around in the air in the Griffith Observatory, they still feel grounded as real people.
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