Review of La La Land (2016) by Pennie H — 07 Mar 2017

I love magic. And that's what I felt when I watch La La Land. Enchanted. There are a lot of complaints about this film, I assume mostly due to the never ending positive buzz it's gotten. There was even an SNL skit about how widely (and overly) loved it is.

But I can't help it. I love Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, I love a musical, and I love the classic style. You can tell me all day long about how Stone is breathy, Gosling looks at his feet when he dances, I don't care.

I liked the way it made me feel, and I left humming under my breath and dancing up the stairs. I went into the theater for my first viewing in the throes of an existential crisis (which come around every other week).

I was immediately invested in the characters and cried for a majority of the second half. A few weeks later, I went in for another show time because I was worried I wasn't in a stable mental state the first time around.

I cried (slightly) less in my second showing, but it still felt as connected. Flat out it was a beautifully shot, exciting, catchy frolic through every young dreamer's fantasy in LA. 9.8/10.