Let's look at the style of film this is, and compare it to other films of a similar genre to start off with.
Do I like films about romance in general? No.
Do I like musical films? No.
Do I even particularly enjoy jazz music? I don't hate it, but I don't listen to it often.
But I really liked La La Land.
When you go to see a film, the main thing you care about is the plot of the film. If you've seen Trainspotting 2, you know you're expecting to see a sequel to the original Trainspotting, where if you recently saw Star Wars: Rogue One, you know you're expecting a film about Wars that are set in and around the Stars. Similarly, La La Land is about L.A., a land where everybody explains their feelings in song and dance (music being a concept that is specifically described, especially in reference towards younger people, as a series of 'La' sounds). In the city of Los Angeles, Emma Stone is a down-on-her luck barista who's trying to get work as an actress, whilst Ryan Gosling is a jazz musician who's trying to get work as a jazz musician. One day, Ryan Gosling is playing the piano at a restaurant, being paid to play a selection of Christmas music and, bored out of his mind, he decides to mix it up a bit and play some free form jazz instead; Ryan Gosling is fired and decides to freelance himself in a cheap band that plays hit songs from the 80s. Meanwhile, Emma Stone is still working as a barista, who keeps attending parties hoping to find anyone in the movie industry with which to get close to and secure herself a job working on a film set - she doe not find anyone. Instead, Emma Stone finds Ryan Gosling in the restaurant and tries to tell him how good his music was, but he ignores her, only for her to see him playing the hit song "Take on Me" by A-Ha at a house party months later. Emma Stone demands him to play "I Ran" by Flock of Seagulls, to which he takes offense as he is a 'serious musician'. They then, very quickly, fall in love over how terrible and vain they are as people, and they make a vow to make each others dreams come true.
As the plot continues, you just feel happy and good about life, they progress as a happy couple up until the part in a romance film where they're not happy about something arbitrary - in this instance, they fall out over a music related subject (fortunately), and, in a dramatic twist, it's solved with conversation. The film likes to throw a few twists and surprises at you, but overall keeps its very positive attitude throughout, being a very upbeat film, even when it's sad. There's not much more to say without spoiling the film, which would be wrong to do, as it's highly recommended you check out the film for yourself and see how much of a joy it is.
So what else about the film is worth noting? Well, I think soundtrack is a good place to start. It's jazz. It's almost all entirely jazz, but it mixes it up with hit 80s songs like 'Take on Me', 'I Ran' and 'Tainted Love' (I think that Tainted Love may have been Marilyn Manson's version, but I didn't particularly listen to it when it was as it was just background party noise for a conversation between Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, so maybe it was the original). and halfway through there is a song that's a sort of jazz-pop hybrid. Most of the music maintains a very positive attitude, but, in typical musical fashion, refers to parts of the plot as opposed to a general theme like a typical song. The first scene in the film is a highway scene of a large crowd of people getting out of their cars and dancing wildly on the highway, having a great time singing a song about how sunny it is in L.A., before the film reveals it's winter. You get a film about getting ready for a party, and plenty of instrumental piano music, some love songs, including a song that appears after the hit 80s song section where they discuss the night sky and how disappointed by spending time in each others company ruins their night, before falling in love. The music maintains a positive attitude, and to give that impression, I think the only right thing to do is give you a little taste of it:
You may say to yourself after this clip: "Wow, that film looks fantastic." to which I would say, absolutely. This film is shot fantastically, with everything being mostly symmetrical, or with certain things (especially people) standing out in the shot to make you look at it. A lot of the clothing is brightly coloured, hence the yellow dress, or just tends to stand out compared to the background (in one example, Ryan Gosling was wearing a brown suit as he entered a building where there was low lighting and it was largely grey and black colours, as well as some bright neon lights, making him stand out quite a lot). The visuals pop out of the screen and really capture the attention of the audience so that everybody is engrossed in the way the film looks, the way the dancing is choreographed and how well the acting is. It stands out, it looks great and it makes you want to keep watching throughout.Now, let's discuss the most controversial part of the film - spoilers for this paragraph - the ending. To summarise the ending, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone do not get together. I thought this fact was fantastic, as it shows that they both achieved their dreams because of each other, but not with each other, and the film then shows you a glimpse of them together and how they would have ended with each other, but without their dreams fully achieved, showing a story of sacrifice and almost like a hard hitting truth of Hollywood that romance isn't always like it is in the movies, which is, in my opinion, truly fantastic from a romance film about movies. I liked the ending, but I can see why many people would be disappointed that the love between the two could not last.
So what didn't I like, I hear you ask? Well, for a start, I'm still not sold on the idea of musicals. I still find the idea of bursting into a song to explain the simplest of things a ridiculous and annoying idea that doesn't contribute to the plot or benefit the film very much, and while the film incorporating jazz music into its plot was a fantastic way of making it seem more natural, some parts didn't need to be explained in song, and it both annoyed and amused me that they sang their feelings. I didn't hate it, but I still don't like musicals just because this was better than most for me.
The plot also wasn't without flaws. The middle section was a very formulaic romance plot; our couple gets together, lives a fulfilling and happy life, has one single argument and breaks up, then gets together. The ending of the film was just a happy spanner in the works for a very typical romance plot, and while I appreciate the beginning and the end, the middle could've been a little bit more unique in some ways - I don't know what ways, as I'm not in on every intricate detail of the film - but there must've been something they could do to make the plot more interesting throughout that didn't involve explaining a feeling in song.
But most of all, I could not get behind the appalling treatment of Keith. Halfway through the film, Keith, a supposed childhood friend of Ryan Gosling's comes in and is all "Hey, I'm Keith." and then starts a band with Ryan Gosling. Ryan Gosling hated Keith, but he never said why, and Keith is trying to make jazz into something new and exciting that kids would be more interested in, which makes Emma Stone hate Keith as well, and the two end up falling out of their mutual hatred of Keith. What happens to Keith after this? He vanishes. My working theory is that Keith may actually be a deep cover CIA agent who had to insert himself into the plot to make sure the romance film cliché happened and he could return back to Keithville, where everybody named Keith is treated fair and equally and isn't removed from the plot because he's no longer relevant. Remember Keith, I'll always look out for you, buddy.
But in all seriousness, this film is probably going to be one of my favourite films of 2017, and I'm quite surprised that this was a film I enjoyed. I hope you check it out even if you don't want to. This film genuinely came across as a great work of love and attention from everyone involved, and every scene that didn't involve Keith being mistreated came across as warm and happy.
This film gets 2 La's out of a Land. (I had to lower it for you, Keith)
