Movie Review: "La La Land"

"La La Land": A.  SHE is stuck in a job her heart isn't in, but being a coffee shop barista on the Warner Brothers studio lot earns her enough dough to pay her bills. HE is pianist stuck playing background music in a restaurant, hoping the patrons will toss a buck or two in his tip jar. SHE wants to be an actress, but every audition generates nothing other than curt rejection and a gradual wounding of her spirit. HE aspires to own a jazz club where real jazz, not Kenny G-style pop jazz, will be performed by acclaimed musicians.  SHE takes a gamble by writing and acting in a one woman play, Goodbye To Boulder City.  It's not exactly what she had in mind in terms of becoming an actress, but it seems to be a step in the right direction and it's better than schlepping coffee.  HE takes a gamble by hooking up with a jazz ensemble called the Messengers, whose leader is Keith (John Legend).  The Messengers' music is a little too pop oriented for his tastes, but it's better than working under the thumb of the restaurant owner (J.K. Simmons) who had no appreciation for or desire to hear real jazz.

Mia and Sebastian (Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling) are the young adults living those parallel southern California lives.  They each have big dreams, little cash and high levels of frustration.  They are impatient with their current life stages in which they're indefinitely stalled.  Their desired careers are on hold.  You might doubt two busy young people like them, traveling in different circles in gigantic LA, would ever meet, but they do -- three times, in fact, during the first twenty minutes of the story.

The phrase "La La Land" is commonly used to mean a make believe, unrealistic environment.  It's the opposite of "real."  The film is a musical, true, but it's a magical fairy tale as well.  Lest there be any doubt, the very first scene is a gridlocked traffic jam on LA's Interstate 105.  A young woman gets out of her vehicle, stands on the pavement, and not only breaks into song but starts dancing as well.  Other drivers follow suit, singing, clapping, dancing, performing somersaults, jumping on cars' hoods and rooftops, and having the best time.  Yes, this is going to be a high-spirited story, and we shouldn't make harsh judgments about what will surely be a dearth of realism.

Once the dancing is over and the traffic starts clearing, Mia is inattentive behind the wheel, and the guy behind her leans on his horn.  She flips him the bird as he pulls his car around to pass her.  That guy turns out to be Sebastian.  It's the future love birds' first "meeting."

 

Later that evening Mia walks into a fancy restaurant and is mesmerized by the music being played by the pianist.  This occurs only seconds before the pianist is fired on the spot for his failure to follow the owner's instructions to play only Christmas music.  The pianist is Sebastian.  Mia attempts to speak to Sebastian but he gruffly brushes by on his way out the door.

 

Weeks go by and the two have probably forgotten about their extremely brief encounters.  But then Mia attends an outdoor party and recognizes that the keyboardist for the hired cover band is none other than that former restaurant pianist.  Mia playfully makes a request for a song (I Ran by A Flock Of Seagulls) that she suspects Sebastian will not want to play.  During a break they actually have a conversation.  When the party ends, she makes the first move by asking him to find her car keys.  By the time they walk to her car, the match has been made.  Given their circumstances, this is not an optimum time to begin a relationship-- especially true in Mia's case, since she already has a beau -- but Cupid won't be denied.

 

It is not always smooth sailing, but Mia and Sebastian do make time for each other.  She shows him the Warner Brothers lot.  He tries to change her avowed dislike for jazz by taking her to a club.  They even sing to each other and slow dance every once in awhile, including a memorable scene at a planetarium where they float above the ground, Tinker Bell style, toward the star spangled ceiling. There's no denying they are likable and cute, a good combination for this kind of story.

 

An important, superbly written moment in the film occurs when Sebastian surprises Mia with a homemade dinner in their apartment.  She thought he was away on tour with the Messengers.  Their candlelight conversation starts out as a romantic dialogue, but their celebration of being together after weeks of being apart abruptly goes south.  They truly want what's best for each other, but Sebastian reveals he's decided to turn his Messengers affiliation from a short term gig into an extended commitment.  That means touring all over the world, hardly ever being home in LA.  When he senses her sadness about this news, he tells her he's only doing what she wanted him to do, viz., holding down a steady well-paying job.  How else would he ever be able to come up with the financing to start the club he's always dreamed about?  Sebastian also says a few things he shouldn't, and Mia takes that as her cue to leave.

 

There is a scene where Mia and Sebastian each tell the other that, even though they're unsure where they are headed as a couple, they will always love the other, words that we viewers have in our consciousness throughout.  We mentally pull for these "kids," and want them to reconcile.  We spend the remainder of the movie with our fingers crossed.

 

There is much to like, even love, about this movie, and it's easy to see why it is considered a favorite for the Best Picture Oscar.  With a nod to Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Stone is arguably one of the two best American actresses in her twenties.  Low key Ryan Gosling is an expert at conveying emotions with mere subtlety.  (By the way, if Gosling really is doing his own piano playing, he is stellar.) 

Their on-screen chemistry cannot be questioned.  The writing brilliantly succeeds in combining dramatic reality with clever illusion. Exhibit A is the story's ending.  What a masterpiece!  I saw this movie six days ago yet I can't stop replaying the last scene in my mind.  Kudos to writer Damien Chazelle, who also directed.  He spent six years perfecting his written word.

 

Finally, a word or two about the music.  The original score was written for this film by Justin Hurwitz, a Wisconsin native who roomed with director Chazelle at Harvard.  There are several scenes in La La Land in which we are treated to entire jazz works.  The theater's sound system enabled the audience to feel the music just as if we were at a live event.  One song, Mia And Sebastian's Theme, is played at significant moments in the story.  It definitely reminded me of how the song As Time Goes By was such a key element of Casablanca.