The 2016 rom/com musical film, La La Land, was written and directed by Damien Chazelle and has been universally praised by critics for its direction, performances, musical score and numbers, plus its screenplay and has already won various awards from the movie’s industry. I am not a fan of this particular genre and was not very impressed with the film. It stars Ryan Gosling, as musician Sebastian Wilder, Emma Stone as the actress, Mia Dolan, who fall in love while in living in Los Angeles, regarded by many as a city out of touch with what is real. The remainder of the cast includes John Legend as Keith, Rosemarie DeWitt as Laura Wilder, Sonoya Mizuno as Caitlin, J. K. Simmons as Bill, Callie Hernandez as Tracy, Finn Wittrock as Greg Earnest, Tom Everett Scott as David, Damon Gupton as Harry, Meagen Fay as Mia’s mother, Jason Fuchs as Carlo and Josh Pence as Josh.
The storyline is a simple one: Girl meets boy, they break into song and dance, fall in love, fall out of love, and go on to live their separate successful lives with other people. Well, maybe not quite so simple. Here is how the story evolves: the girl and boy meet on a crowded Los Angeles freeway (and if you have ever been to LA, you know that at any time day or night, the freeways are ALWAYS crowded and in this particular situation, everyone breaks into song and dance…on the road…on cars, etc.), and Mia has a slight moment of road rage. She works as a barista on a studio lot and he is a struggling pianist. Going to a fancy Hollywood Hills party, she unfortunately finds that she must walk home as her car has been towed and walks past a restaurant where Sebastian is playing. Hearing the music, she goes into the restaurant. Sebastian however has been fired and leaves walking right passed Mia on his way out the door. They run into each other again a few months later where Sebastian is playing in a 1980s cover band and they walk together looking for their cars and realize that there is chemistry between them. (You know, of course, they sing and dance at this juncture.)
Okay, not so simple. To continue: Mia shows Sebastian the movie lot and explains her love for acting. He, on the other hand, takes her to a jazz club and explains his desire for jazz and his plans to open his own club someday. (More singing and dancing) On a date with her current boyfriend, she forgets the acceptance to view the movie Rebel Without a Cause with Sebastian, but manages to get the theatre in time to see it. The evening ends with the two of them singing and dancing at the Griffith Observatory. At this point, Mia has not been successful with her auditions and Sebastian suggests that she write a personal play, which she does. He, on the other hand, starts working at the jazz club, while they begin to live together as a couple. Keith, a high school friend, invites Sebastian to play keyboard in his jazz band, giving the couple a steady income, but Sebastian is unhappy with the band’s genre of pop-style music, but signs with them anyway. Mia, hearing the band play, is equally unhappy at the band’s type of music and tells Sebastian that he has sold out, but he reminds her that she wanted him to have a solid career and that she may have loved him when he was not successful. The night of Mia’s play, he does not go because he has a photo shoot that he had forgotten. The play is not successful, with only a handful of people attending, so she decides to leave and move back home to Nevada.
As fortune would have it, Sebastian gets a call from a casting director who was at Mia’s play and wants her to audition for him. Driving to Nevada, Sebastian talks Mia into the audition, where she is asked to just tell her story and of course, she sings it. Their future at this point is still uncertain. But the film continues five years later with Mia happily married and a mother of a daughter as well as a famous actress. Sebastian has opened his jazz club entitled Seb’s (a logo Mia designed) where Mia and her husband attend. Sebastian notices Mia in the crowd and plays their love song which starts a dream sequence where the audience views what their lives might have been if their relationship had worked out. Back to the club, Mia and her husband leave but not before she exchanges a last look and smile with Sebastian.
Part of what I enjoyed the most about this film was there was no happily ever after as is the case in most rom-coms and/or musical comedies and both characters, Mia and Sebastian, ended up happily ever after with themselves, their lives, their dreams and reality without one another. I also enjoyed the use of the various iconic elements and scenic views of Los Angeles, one of my favorite cities. The choreography, reminiscent of old-time Hollywood movies, along with the cinematography, was exceptional; the singing was okay as was the dialog. The film made very good use of lighting, again reminiscent of some film noir from the golden age of cinema, and the overall musical score and various songs highlighted the rather simple storyline. The direction was good as was the acting of the main characters and supporting cast. But this genre is just not my “cup of tea.” It is up for an Academy Award…and did not win, losing to Moonlight. I am not certain why when there were so many better films during 2016, but that is only one person’s opinion…mine. GRADE: 3 of 5 crowns 
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