La La Land (2016) Review

La La Land is the 2016 romantic musical film directed and written by Damien Chazelle, starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.

The Plot & Introduction
La La Land is about an aspiring actress (Emma Stone) meeting an aspiring musician (Ryan Gosling) falling in love in Los Angeles. As they set on their own journey to success, they are met with a choice of sacrifice and the dreams they pursue threaten their relationship.

I'm a fan of Damien Chazelle's directorial work. He also wrote and directed Whiplash, a movie from 2014 that I consider a masterpiece. As a musician (saxophonist) and as a guy who does dream to be successful in a particular craft, I was very excited for this film, since this film is targeting a particular audience like myself. La La Land is amazing guys. Is it better than Whiplash? Probably not, but it's most certainly an exceptional film.
The Positives
This film is excellently well-written and the characters have very interesting depth to them. I love the way the film displays this world like a fantasy world, which is why it's called "La La Land". The sequences are beautifully well shot and look very dream-like with a vintage look to it with very beautiful looking nights. It looks amazing. Emma Stone's performance is excellent. Ryan Gosling also does a very good job. This film felt very inspiring. It makes you want to strive for something you want to do and follow your personal dreams. Even though I don't like the genres that this film is in, I still enjoyed it. Since the movie is music-oriented, the film has amazing music. My ears definitely enjoyed listening to the soundtrack and I think I'll be listening to the soundtrack for a while. And one of the best things I love about it is that the singing never felt annoying. The singing never feels tacked on, which is usually why I don't like musicals because it feels like they forced a song in there that really didn't need to be there. Here, it doesn't get annoying because the singing moments flows well with the story and character, and the music sounds good.

The Negatives
There wasn't one major negative I found in the movie. The only negative I could consider is that there were some scenes that kinda left itself hanging and then it cuts. I'm trying not to spoil it, but there were some times where I wished they kept going a little bit to conclude that scene a bit better, but it cuts to a different scene and left some details hanging. It doesn't occur very often though. It only occurs about 2 or 3 times. Other than that, I have no other complaints.

Conclusion
Guys, if you're into music or anything that you're passionate about, La La Land is definitely a must-see. It's often considered a love letter to people who are passionate and want to pursue their craft. It's easily one of my top 5 movies of the year and one of the best films of the year.

Score: A+