LA LA LAND : Tuesday 31st January 2017.

I finally got around to seeing the much acclaimed 'LA LA LAND' six weeks after its Australian release date. Having sat in a half packed theatre, it seemed as though the Australian cinema going public had also been carried along on the furore of the recently announced BAFTA and Oscar buzz, prompting still a decent viewing this far out. This musical romantic dramedy Written and Directed by Damien Chazelle whose last Directorial outing was the highly acclaimed 'Whiplash' seems to have struck pay-dirt again with this follow up. Praised for its Direction, praised for its two principle leads and praised for its musical numbers, this film harking back to a bygone era of song & dance musicals, cost US$30M to make, premiered at the Venice Film Festival in August last year, and saw its US release in early December so far taking US$232M at the global Box Office. The film has been nominated in a record equalling fourteen categories in the upcoming Academy Awards (matched only with 1997's 'Titanic' and 1950's 'All About Eve') including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Music. It is also up for eleven BAFTA Awards, and it picked up a record breaking seven Golden Globes. All up 'La La Land' has amassed 144 award wins and another 214 nominations with the Oscar's and the BAFTA winners yet to be announced.

The film opens with a stirring song and dance routine set amidst traffic congestion on the on-ramp to a busy freeway into LA. With the traffic banked up on a hot day, it's down to the young and old to jump readily out of their cars and burst into song, dancing with each other amongst the parked cars, and adorned in the brightest most colourful dresses and figure hugging T-shirts that are orange, yellow, blue, red, green - all the colours of the rainbow in fact. It sets the tone for the film to follow. And here our two later-on would be star crossed lovers Mia Dolan (Emma Stone) and Sebastian Wilder (Ryan Gosling) suffer some minor road rage with each other which is their first interaction but certainly not their last.

Sebastian Wilder is an aspiring jazz pianist who has dreams of opening his own Jazz Club and Mia Dolan is an aspiring actress who makes espresso's in a Cafe at the Warner Brothers Studio lot where she works to make ends meet, in between the endless drudgery of auditions, whilst doting on the famous Actors she has to serve whilst on duty. After the road rage incident, Mia arrives back at her  apartment which she shares with three other girls. Cue for another song and dance routine as the girls make themselves up ready to hit a lavish party somewhere in the Hollywood Hills. Needless to say the girls are dressed in bright yellow, red, blue and green for the occasion. Leaving the party early she goes in search for her car, only to find it has been towed away, so begins the long trudge home in the early hours.

Walking home Mia come across a bar from which she can hear a pianist tickling the ivories, and she is drawn to enter by the playing. Sebastian Wilder is sat at the piano in the centre of the crowded room playing a pre-determined Christmas set-list as ordered to do so by the Club's owner Bill (J.K.Simmons) who demands Sebastian not to veer from his set-list of songs, or be fired. Sebastian can't help himself and he bursts into a jazz improvisation and is promptly dismissed by Bill. Storming out, Mia attempts to compliment him on his playing, but he brushes her off in his rage and exits the building.

Some months later, Mia is at another day time party at which Sebastian is playing electronic key board for an '80's cover band. She recognises him and ask that he play 'I Ran' that Flock of Seagulls classic to tease him for sinking to such depths and compromising his artistic integrity. After the party they leave together to walk to their cars decrying being in each others company despite the attraction they clearly feel for each other. Cue another song and dance routine with the backdrop of LA at dusk.

As time marches on the two fall for each other (cue romantic interludes that include a walk around the Warner Brothers Lot where Mia describes her acting ambitions and Sebastian outlines his jazz club aspirations; a trip to the movie theatre to see 'Rebel Without a Cause'; and a romantic dance at the Griffith Observatory as seen in 'Rebel Without a Cause'). Following more failed auditions Sebastian persuades Mia to write her own personal one-woman stage play, as Sebastian scores a regular gig playing jazz piano at a local Club. The happy couple move in together.

Soon afterwards Sebastian is approached by an old school mate, Keith (John Legend) who has his own jazz band but is in need of a keyboard player. At first Sebastian declines the offer, but then agrees - tempted by a regular salary of $1,000 per week and a percentage of all merchandise sales. At their first full rehearsal though Sebastian is taken aback by the pop-oriented approach to the bands jazz style, but he decides to stick with it - appreciating the lure of a steady income over his own dream. The band subsequently enjoy some success and go on a tour across the US which takes Sebastian away from home, and Mia, for prolonged periods.

One evening Mia comes home to find that Sebastian is there and has organised a surprise dinner for her. They talk and eat, and then he announces that he has to leave early in the morning to rejoin the band and how she should get used to his prolonged periods away from home. He envisages a studio album after this tour and then another tour to promote the album - a two year time line. They argue with Mia confronting Sebastian over his goals and dreams to own his own Club, which now seems farther away than ever. They argue more, at which point Mia leaves.

On the night of Mia's one woman self funded stage show opening, Sebastian fails to show up due to a forgotten Band photo shoot clashing with her Premier. Only a handful of people attend, and Mia from the wings hears dismissive comments from the audience. Despondent, after Sebastian finally shows up after the show has closed, she says she is leaving for her parents home at Boulder City, Nevada, to take stock of her acting aspirations. Later home alone Sebastian receives a call from a Casting Director looking for Mia, asking her to appear the next day for a movie audition, based on what she saw of Mia at her show recently. Sebastian drives to Boulder City to find Mia and bring her back to LA for the audition. Mia is reluctant at first given her previous experiences with auditions, but relents and drives back with Sebastian the next day. Needless to say Mia gets the part after singing her way through a personal and heartfelt audition. The film is to be rehearsed for there months and shot in Paris over four months, separating the couple again. Despite their uncertain future together, they profess their undying love for each other - for always.

Fast forward five years and Mia is a successful Actress in her own right, and married to another man, with whom she has a young daughter. One evening after dinner they stumble across a jazz bar in downtown LA somewhere and enter, take a seat and listen to the jazz musicians. The sign above the door welcomes them to 'Seb's' - a logo that Mia recognises because she designed it years earlier. Eventually Sebastian emerges and thanks his musicians and recognises Mia sat in the audience. Their eyes meet, and Sebastian is unsettled by the sudden appearance of his love after all these years. He sits at the piano and plays their theme, after which she leaves, turning back one more time before exiting the door. Their eyes meet once more and they give a knowing smile to each other. Fade to black!

In this era dominated by animation blockbusters, epic comic book adaptations, Superhero and Sci-Fi stories writ large, it is good to see a song and dance throw back to the films of yesteryear that revitalises the genre for a whole new audience, that clearly has struck a chord commercially and critically. There is no sex, no violence, no drugs, no car chases, no explosions, no deaths, and from memory not even any coarse language muttered in this film - it's just good honest to goodness entertainment. The film is well crafted, colourful, has a reasonable if simple storyline interspersed with reasonable song & dance routines. But, for me the flaw is in the singing and dancing abilities of the two lead characters - neither Stone of Gosling have the strongest voices you have ever heard, and the dancing is simply choreographed and not over complicated. I too would question its worthiness for fourteen Oscar, eleven BAFTA nods and even a record breaking seven Golden Globes wins. 'La La Land' is good solid nostalgic entertainment showcasing a genre that is seldom seen these days, so good on Damien Chazalle for giving it another crack, and for reigniting our interest with his assured Direction, colour, heartfelt passion, and a simple story well told.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-