Hello dear reader. So 2017 continues to roll along and with it the Hollywood production line continues to offer forth some exceptionally good movies. So far January has given us Manchester by the Sea, and every review I’ve read about has given it at least four stars. We’ve also had Martin Scorsese pop along and release his ’20 years in the making’ Silence. A film that, by all accounts, may earn him a couple of golden statues at the end of February. Now, I’ve had a reasonably busy 2017 so far and I’ve not had much down time to indulge the cinema junkie in me. So instead of going to take in the two previously mentioned celluloid treats, I ended up not taking the money or going for the box but in fact coming up with a third option which for the want of a better description I shall now refer to as ‘Jazz hands with feeling…’ That’s right, I went and watched a musical and I’m happy to report that I’m glad I did. Musicals haven’t had much in the way of attention recently and since their golden age of the forties, fifties and sixties, they’ve struggled to attract the Hollywood dollar and apart from the occasional little exception like Moulin Rouge, Chicago and Les Miserables they haven’t really been the most popular of movie genres to make. The other small issue here is that I’ve never been overly keen on the whole music, dance routines, smiley face, happily ever after movie concept that is musicals. My favourite of the bunch being Fiddler on the Roof. Which for those of you who haven’t seen it is about as far removed from happily ever after as it’s possible to get. So it came as nice surprise when I found out that Damien Chazelle would be following up his directorial debut Whiplash with a Musical set in LA and staring Emma Stone & Ryan Gosling. Surprise was then pushed to its very limits when I watched the first trailer for it and actually found myself thinking that I wanted to go and see it. So ladies and gentlemen, without further ado I present to you the reason you’ve read this far and offer up my humble opinion on what La La Land is all about…
Firstly, it should be stated that although La La Land is a musical, it only just about qualifies as one by the skin of its teeth. Yes, it has dance numbers in it and yes it has music running throughout its two hour run time but I think I counted only six (possibly seven) songs that were actually sung during the entire film and one of those was an actual song sung to a paying audience at a music gig. That said, the songs in question are very good and when put together with ye olde dance routines they do jump out at you and grab your attention. This is especially true on the films big opening number. A single tracking shot that last for a good 10 minutes or so. Set on a freeway overpass (and I’m not even going to start think about the traffic chaos that caused when they shut it down to shoot there) we meet our two stars Mia and Sebastian, Stone and Gosling respectively, caught in a traffic jam while the rest of the occupants of the stationary vehicles, jump, dance and sing around them. This sets the tone for the rest of the film and helps the cinema goer acclimatise to the next one hundred and twenty minutes of entertainment.
As plots go it’s a relatively simple affair. Wannabee actress has come to make it big in Hollywood and is waitressing to pay the bills while Jazz lover and talented piano player want’s to share his passion for music with the rest of the world and open his own club. Told over the course of year, we see their trials and tribulations and their relationship ups and downs. Along the way we bump into a talented bunch of actors who play bit parts and play them well. Skipping across the screen their best foot forward and hitting those key changes as if their lives depending on it. JK Simmons turns up again but instead of screaming ‘not my tempo!’ as he did in Whiplash he has a small cameo as a restaurant owner who likes his music his way and most definitely on his terms. The other notable performance comes from John Legend, who has quite the pedigree behind him when it comes to singing but not so much in the acting department. Thankfully he doesn’t get asked to do any heavy lifting in regards to the story and his voice more than makes up for any shortfall in his acting ability.
I’m also happy to state for the record that La La Lands two main leads can actually hold a note too, although one of them has a far better grip when it comes to the holding. Gosling has about the same level of talent as Russel Crowe when it comes to the doh ray me’s. Which isn’t to say it’s bad at all but his report card should read ‘could do better’. Damien Chazelle has now made two films in a row that are not only music based but are also one part jazz and two parts human relationships. Now they are both at completely different ends of the music film spectrum and both very good but I’m not sure the world needs another film to complete his jazz trilogy. He’s obviously an incredibly talented writer and I don’t think that Chazelle’s directing skills can currently be called into question. La La Land is not only acoustically appealing it is also visually elegant. It has a feel and atmosphere about it that makes it look like it was all shot through pastel tissue paper. If I have a criticism about La La Land it comes with the climax of the movie. I won’t spoil anything for you but I will say it left me very much thinking along the lines of ‘oh’. I would recommend going to see it. It will entertain you easily and unquestionably make you smile at times. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that this is a feel good movie but it will make you forget about the outside world when you watch it. I hope whatever Chazelle tackles next is a complete departure from his previous two efforts. He seems to be good a character driven stories and I suspect given the opportunity he could really shine with his next undertaking. It just needs to dial down the musical overtones and keep the great music purely as a soundtrack dividend. That said, I’d probably go and see a jazz western or maybe even a musical science fiction film and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the major Hollywood studios are presently falling over themselves to let him make whatever he damn well wants.
Twitter Review:
Two shots of happy, one shot of sad. Singing and dancing that isn’t half bad.
#LoLoLovely
Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3783958/?ref_=nv_sr_1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pdqf4P9MB8
http://www.empireonline.com/movies/la-la-land/review/
No comments:
Post a Comment