With the new theatrical release “La La Land” getting 14 Oscar nominations, earning it a historic number of nominations, I thought it vital to review the film in this month’s issue, having seen it myself. I personally was not expecting much out of the film as I am someone who has not been known to be a huge fan of musicals. However, when someone close to me and whose opinion I highly regarded seeing that he also hates musicals said that I had to see it, I had to see it. Upon the start of the film, I jumped to the conclusion that the film was going to be a waste of 2 hours and 8 minutes of my life. It starts out as any typical musical would, with a musical number that has no preface and doesn’t make too much sense as it occurs in the middle of a trafficked bridge. Despite this, once the story began I became enthralled with the acting and the story-line. The film puts a colorful spin on the lives of two people struggling to follow their dreams whilst being in love. The struggles of the modern era cause Mia, played by Emma Stone, to be treated terribly in the pursuit of an acting career, while also causing Ryan Gosling´s character, Sebastian, to be unable to make money from the pursuit of true jazz. At one point they have both pretty much given up on their dreams until they remind each other of how badly they want it, sometimes more than they want to be together, even though the quality of their love is indisputable. After the two are reminded of the root of their true passion they are able to fulfill their dreams as Emma ends up catching a huge break on the Hollywood scene after her failed one woman play, and Ryan is able to open up the true old time jazz club he longed to run. The only catch is that they were unable to do this in the company of each other, they were forced to pick between pursuing their dreams or their love.

I had mixed feelings about this ending as this may be one of my biggest personal fears: I fear having to choose between love for someone and love for my work. The fact that the two aspects of passion were unable to coexist threw me into a pitfall of emotion and as there were flashes in the movie showcasing what life could have been like if they had chosen one another I burst into tears, making a complete fool of myself. Despite my embarrassing encounter with reality, I think that the message of the film is what gives it depth and allow for it to escape the connotations around a typical musical. This amazing storyline was also accompanied by vibrant music and dance numbers that helped elevate the quality of the film. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling also did an amazing job in their portrayal of the characters. I strongly suggest that you see this film while it is still on the big screen, however, take into account the fact that I have yet to see “Moonlight” or any of the other films up for an Academy Award so take my review with a grain of salt. Overall 8.9/10.