Photo Credit: Dale Robinette
Now when a film is nominated for the Best Film Award at the Oscars, I always tend to be slightly sceptical. With most of them lasting at least 2 hours it can be quite the commitment, especially when a lot of the time they seem to be disappointing and don’t live up to the Oscars hype. So when I saw La La Land had been nominated for 14 Academy Awards including Best Picture, I braced myself for disappointment. But I have to say I am pleasantly surprised and completely loved it!
Photo Credit: Dale Robinette
Set in Hollywood the story is based around aspiring actress Mia played by Emma Stone and jazz fanatic and pianist Sebastian played by Ryan Gosling. After a number of chance encounters the pair instantly hit it off and begin a romantic relationship. With both of them trying and failing to break into their desired industry, they decide to take a hold of their futures and make it happen for themselves. After Mia fails at a string of auditions she decides to write her own, one woman play and take a leap of faith. Meanwhile Sebastian’s dream is to make people love jazz again, he wants to open a jazz bar with drink, music and of course chicken. After working within a number of groups and at a variety of restaurants as a pianist, a chance encounter with his old friend Keith, find’s Sebastian putting his dream on hold for the sake of a ‘steady’ job.
I loved the fact that the film had such an old school feel to it, as though it was set in the 1950’s, but was modern in every way, to the point of Mia driving an electric car with the latest Apple iPhone. Around every corner and in every scene there is a burst of colour from reds, yellows, blues and greens, it is bright, upbeat and has a real happiness to it.
Photo Credit: Dale Robinette
Now the film most definitely is a musical, and although I love a good musical, sometimes it can be really cringey when the characters suddenly burst out into song. Now I have to say the film does this so well and in no way is it cringey. I think because both Mia and Sebastian are performers it makes it more believable. Not forgetting how catchy and good the songs are in this film, who knew Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone could even sing, let alone sing and dance!
I’m not going to give away the end as I am sure that a lot of you will probably still want to go and see this one, the only thing I will say is that I wish the ending was different, and once you watch the film you will know exactly what I mean. But other than that, I absolutely loved this film. It is a happy, sunny, feel good film and really shows you that in order for your dreams to come true you really do have to work hard for it! I 100% recommend you all go and watch this one!
Let us know if you’ve seen La La Land and what you thought of it, we’d love to hear from you. Drop us a comment below or get in touch via our social media.
Thanks for reading!
Team Hurley
xo
Sarah Hurley Blog 