LALALAND REVIEW

Since the era of Rogers and Astaire, there have been a few musicals that have attempted to recreate that sense of fluid, magical thinking in which characters communicate with their bodies as much, if not more, than with their voices. One of the many remarkable aspects of Damien Chazelle's "La La Land" is the amount of energy and time it devotes to movement and music, rather than just lyrics. Modern movie musicals, which are frequently based on Broadway shows, have placed a strong emphasis on songs that advance the plot. In Chazelle's world, choreography is important, and a simple piano refrain can be more powerful than a lyric. This is a lovely film about love and dreams and how they interact.Los Angeles is filled with dreamers, and sometimes it takes a partner to make your dream come true.

"La La Land" begins with a bit of a ruse in that it's a large ensemble number of a type we won't see again in the film. Cars are stuck in notoriously bad L.A. traffic when the drivers decide to break into "Another Day of Sun," a song about how each day brings new hope for these young want tobe artists, jumping out of their vehicles and dancing on the freeway. Chazelle's direction and dance choreography stand out right away. He works in long, uninterrupted takes here and throughout the film. You can see not only the dance moves but also the dancer's entire body as he or she performs them.

And, after a chorus-like introduction to a city of dreamers, we meet two of them: pianist Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and actress Mia (Kate Hudson) (Emma Stone). In their first scenes, the two, like any good musical, have a few false starts and playfully mock each other's flaws. But we all know where this is going, and Gosling and Stone have the chemistry that makes us want them to get together.

The first major focal point of the film is a long walk between Sebastian and Mia as the sun sets over the Hollywood Hills. They begin to notice similarities in one another. Mia is sick of going on pointless auditions where the producer never looks up from their phone. Sebastian clings to an idealized version of jazz, wishing to open his own club rather than selling out and performing greatest hits for tourists. And Sebastian and Mia have an undeniable chemistry. So, even as they sing about how they aren't a couple and how this beautiful night is squandered because they aren't with their true partners, their bodies tell a different story with a fantastically choreographed dance number.Stone and Gosling aren’t natural singers or dancers, but they bring so much character and commitment to every movement that it doesn’t matter. They’re fluid, engaged and mesmerizing. We watch them fall in love through dance.

Of course, Gosling and Stone have the kind of star power that helped make so many classic era musicals memorable. He's smooth and charismatic, and she's astute and lovely. The phrase's original meaning has been lost, but these are movie stars. And, of course, they're more than capable when "La La Land" calls for more depth, creating characters so rich that the film could stand alone without the music. It's a story about artistic passion and how easily your dreams can be derailed. It sometimes takes the help of another person to get you back on the right track. Gosling and Stone get these characters, capturing their grace in movement while also evoking emotional depth in their arcs.“La La Land” also exists as a very conscious ode to the allure of classic Hollywood.

It's easy to get discouraged by the world at times, especially in a year like this one. It's easy to believe that dreams don't come true and that true love can only be found in movies. "La La Land" reminds us that movies can still be magical and provide a channel for us to see magic in the world around us. The characters sing in the opening number that it's not so much another day in the sun as it is the dreams of the night before, the ones we wake up and try to fulfill, that keep us dancing.