"I'm letting life hit me until it gets tired. Then I'll hit back." - Sebastian, La La Land

Halloooooo!!

I've finally seen La La Land about 3 weeks ago and only now I'm able to write about it.

Let me get the elephant out of the room. I didn't particulary enjoyed the film. I had to wait until now to write down the reasons why as it would have been too harsh a few weeks ago and the film doesn't deserve that either.

** spoilers **

2017
Director: Damien Chazelle
Cast: Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, J.K. Simmons,...
Length: 2h 8min
Genre: musical
5/10

The quote in the title of this post "I'm letting life hit me until it gets tired. Then I'll hit back." is one of the most inspiring quotes I've heard in quite a while. It pretty much sums up the core of this film: two people trying to chase their dreams and getting rejected all the time, but won't give up. That aspect of the film really appealed to me, but alas...

... It didn't work out that way. I find the two main characters unrelatable and unlikeable. Unlike the majority of the population who have seen the film, I don't find the soundtrack catchy. The score on the other hand is good. A lot of characters were introduced once in the film but are not to be seen for the rest of the film (what's the point?). And the pace is too slow. Got me bored half way through the film. If I weren't watching it on the silver screen, I probably would have stopped it half way through.

The beginning was promising. Opening with a musical scene. Then go to Mia's character and follow her story. Then cut back to Sebastian's story line and see what he got up to whilst we were following Mia. Then they meet and meet again and then kind of get together. And from there, Damien Chazelle lost me.

I did quite like the ending, but not all of it. I liked the fact they didn't end up together, but it could have been told differently. Now, Mia is married to another man. They go on a dinner date and then walk into the same jazz bar owned by Sebastian, to then show an alternative storyline how it could have ended. It didn't work for me.

Visually the movie is stunning. The colours are vibrant and different from what you see normally in film. The way certain scenes are shot is absolutely beautiful.

The story line and the characters were just not facinating enough to captivate my attention. However, I am definitely going to see it again in a few months or years time as I probably will have a different view then and it might change my opinion :) It's not a bad film, but I don't quite understand the 11 Academy nominations either...

There, I've said it. I am aware this is a very unpopular opinion, but we agree to disagree then.

If you've made it this far, thanks for reading!
xo - Sara