What America will known as after January 20th…. And Britain after March….. Also, not as colourful….

I’m writing this the night before The Donald is sworn into office, bringing with him potentially the destruction of all humanity and at best, a damned good laugh for the next four years.

Rest assured, the event is being screened around the world and in a way, I am just curious as to how much of a car crash it actually will be. The whole thing has been like a car crash, in that you can’t help but slow down to take a look. I mean, if your pick for Education Secretary Betsy Devos thinks we need guns in schools to protect from bears and Rick Perry didn’t even know what job he was going to do, well…. just pick up some popcorn and play out it’s the end of the world as we know it;

So in a weird way, perhaps this is the most suitable time to bring up another mini meh about a film firmly based in a different universe, where we focus on two people trying to make it in the world as various successes and in essence, providing us with a happy escape. La La Land is another love letter in essence to Hollywood and the struggle to get famous by people who have to do sh*tty jobs before that big break. So already you would start suspecting that this would be a film genetically engineered to win lots of shiny shiny things, as if nothing else, Hollywood loves stuff that’s about itself, Trumbo and Birdman being two recent examples reviewed here of course.

Your mood may also be soured by the introduction where various people are stuck on a freeway / motorway in LA, sweating and bored, where they just start a huge musical number and about what is hard to understand half the time, but hey, at least then we know how our two soon-to-be lovebirds, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling meet, it’s by getting upset with each other when traffic starts moving and Emma decided to read some paper at the wheel instead of driving on. I know I should be referring to their chracter names, but honestly it’s going to be easier to just stick with the actors’ names!

However, even in these opening few minutes and what comes afterwards, what you get is actually a pretty damned good mix of old and new cinematography and style choices. This is a place where everyone has a Toyota Prius, yet they wear really bright colours and live seemingly simple lives and have simple goals and almost immediately as Emma and Ryan keep bumping into each other, that you know they are going to get together. They get annoyed by each other, say insults so basically, won’t be long before they are living together and doing naughty, all the while still chasing their dreams.

What do you mean none of this is real? Does that mean Trump isn’t real either?

Emma Stone wants to be an actress but she’s struggling to get a break while working in a coffee shop on the Warner Bros. studio lot. Ryan Gosling wants to open a proper Jazz club and be real. Or something like that, I don’t know. But of course not all is going to go well, and soon enough there’s a strain between the two as Ryan goes off with John Legend touring round the country while Emma tries to write her one woman show and try to show a small group of people in a theatre what she’s made of. It’s full of highs and lows which also leads to a surprising ending and perhaps, a much more realistic one, despite the setting and context.

This film has a lot of musical numbers sprinkled around the place and a lot of the songs are really catchy and lively in the way Broadway always seems to make musicals. Some of the dances as well are nicely crafted, with the sequences at the Griffith Observatory and the moments just after Emma and Ryan attended a party where the chemistry between the two really starts to develop as they dance and sing, are really nice and provide some escapism which we all need right now.

However if you’re going to be nostalgic and think back on a 50s musical like Singin’ in the Rain, the dances were way more energetic and breathtaking back then and it still stands up amazingly well even now. I couldn’t help but make the comparison due to the way they were angling for the nostalgia factor here in the presentation. That doesn’t mean La La Land doesn’t deliver, it does. It has some good laughs, some emotional moments and a simple story which anyone can follow. J.K Simmons steals the scenes he’s in by being abrupt and funny with Ryan trying to ensure Ryan only plays what J.K wants.

The actors do very well and there were very few moments where I could even think my attention wasn’t being held. The music was good, to the point where you would actually want to listen to them again after and despite what happens, you will come away with at least a smile. If you don’t like musicals, this however, won’t change your mind. But if you do, I am happy to recommend this to you, and perhaps we find ourselves with the first film of the Oscar Bait season, which may actually deserve some recognition. Even if it was released at this time and had all the ticks in the box just to do so as someone cynical would say. Like me…..