La La Land (2016) is a dazzling musical-drama set in modern-day Los Angeles and detailing the burgeoning romance between Mia Dolan (Emma Stone), an aspiring actress, and Sebastian "Seb" Wilder (Ryan Gosling), a trumpet player and jazz aficionado.
Following a series of chance encounters, Mia and Seb eventually converge at a party in the Hollywood Hill and quickly develop a love affair punctuated by lively musical numbers and romantic interludes. The storyline plays out as a dramatic contrast between their personalities and professional dreams, with Mia pining for glory as a Hollywood starlet while Seb remains devoted to pure Jazz and his dreams of owning his own club one day.
Written and directed by Damien Chazelle (Whiplash, First Man), La La Land is an effervescent throwback to Hollywood musicals of yesteryear, replete with an intoxicating blend of charm, spectacle and nostalgia. Stone steals the show with her buoyant, Academy Award-winning performance while Gosling holds it all together with his sincerity and genuity. Kudos to Chazelle for taking such a risk with this one—a major stretch for modern audiences—and delivering such a wonderfully fresh extravaganza to the big screen.
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