JANUARY 16, 2017
OK, I’ve put it off long enough. It’s finally time to review “La La Land.”
I first saw the Oscar frontrunner several weeks ago, after hearing about it since its triumphant premiere at the Venice Film Festival in August, where it was immediately designated as the film to beat. Having been a fan of director Damien Chazelle’s previous film, the Oscar-winning “Whiplash,” and hearing from others that “La La Land” was transformative and whisked them away to a much happier place, I was ready to be whisked away.
I wasn’t whisked.
This is not to say that I didn’t enjoy it. The large production numbers in the film’s first half were impressive, and even though he in particular is not a terrific singer, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone managed to evoke an every-person expressiveness to their songs, which was pleasing. But rather than being transformed, I didn’t give myself into the experience but instead began taking critics’ notes about the film’s major plotholes and its uneven pacing.
Leaving the screening as a grump, I was prepared to grade the film a B, and only that high because of its spectacular production numbers. But something told me not to write a review just yet, and I held off, thinking that there may have been something about “La La Land” that I missed on the first round.
When I saw that the film was scheduled to play in IMAX theaters this weekend, I thought that I would give it another try. Boy, am I glad I did.
The film focuses on two young artists in Los Angeles trying to achieve their dreams — Sebastian (Gosling), a pianist trying to keep the art of jazz from dying, and Mia (Stone), an aspiring actress who keeps getting the door slammed in her face all over Hollywood. They meet cute, spend a few months hating each other and then fall in love. You’ve seen it a thousand times before, and that’s the point that writer/director Damien Chazelle is trying to make — there’s a reason these tested stories work and can do so today, as long as you tell them in a fresh way.
As you may have heard, the opening production number, “Another Day of Sun,” is set on a stalled L.A. freeway where singers and dancers do somersaults amid an array of stopped cars. It has drive and energy that gets the film off to a hugely promising start. This is followed up by a second big number, “Someone in the Crowd,” set at a glamorous Hollywood party. More somersaults, this time involving a pool. And it produces one of the most memorable images from the film — the sight of Mia with her three roommates, all dressed in bold primary colors, flashing the hems of their skirts, boldly strutting down a darkened street. Just beautiful. (Unfortunately, it’s also the last scene in the film where Latinos play a prominent role — odd, because it’s a film set in contemporary Los Angeles. But that’s the subject for another column.)
Many critics have noted the influence of other famed musicals in “La La Land,” and in part, that’s what turned me off to the film on the first viewing. I spent the first hour thinking “Ooh, that’s ‘Singing in the Rain’,” and that’s ‘The Red Balloon’ and there’s ‘The Band Wagon’,” and I thought to the director “Dude, stop trying so hard” and completely missed the precision of the film’s execution. This time I checked my film-school nerd mind at the door and let the film just wash all over me.
The score by Justin Hurwitz is just gorgeous and contains melodies that I’m still humming today. Though Lionsgate is pushing the tune “City of Stars” hard for the Best Song Oscar (which will probably win even though I’m sick of hearing it already), the film has a few even better choices to submit, such as the opening number “Another Day of Sun” and especially “Audition (The Fools Who Dream),” where Stone’s performance will could win her the Best Actress Oscar.
As enthusiastic as I am on the second viewing of “La La Land,” some of the storytelling problems with the film still remain. For example, she can’t show up for their movie date, he can’t show up for her one-woman show. They both have cellphones! C’mon, really? If you want to keep the same story, fine, but create a reason why they can’t make those calls or texts to warn the other. Phooey. And I still don’t buy Sebastian’s sellout to join John Legend’s band, just on a storytelling basis. His passion about keeping jazz pure is one of the most attractive aspects of his character, and while he desperately needs money to start his jazz club, this whipsaw turn in his character needed at least one extra scene to justify his move. Grump, grump, grump.
However, Gosling’s acting skills are so strong that he manages to pull that character shift off, and, singing voice aside, delivers one of his best performances of his career. But “La La Land” really belongs to Emma Stone. Her eyes are among the most expressive in film today, and Chazelle gives her a number of loving close-ups that allows Stone to expertly reveal her character by layers.
Even when I wasn’t wild about the film the first time, the film’s final 15 minutes — from Stone’s “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” through the film’s “what if?” closing — was pure cinema heaven. On my disappointing first viewing, I thought it was wonderful but it wasn’t enough to save the movie. This time, though, it was the cherry on top of a very delicious sundae.
REVISED GRADE: A-
