"La La Land" Review

You often hear people criticize films by saying "They don't make 'em like they used to." Well, I think Damien Chazelle (Whiplash) just filled that void.

La La Land is a musical-comedy-romance-drama about coming to terms with your dreams. It shares DNA with many of the classic Hollywood musicals, specifically Singin' In the Rain and Meet Me In St. Louis. Anyone who has ever been in love, aspired to something great, or felt the pain of defeat should experience a deep connection to this film.

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone play aspiring artists; he, a jazz musician named Sebastian who dreams of opening his own club and she, an actress named Mia who dreams of hitting it big. They are drawn to each other by their passion for their respective endeavors. As success begins to mount for them both, ensuing circumstances threaten to tear Seb and Mia apart.

One of the best things about La La Land is that it has its feet planted firmly in nostalgia while also delivering something that feels fresh. By its very nature, La La Land isn't as white-knuckle engaging as Chazelle's prior effort, Whiplash. I think Whiplash is the superior film, but that doesn't mean that La La Land isn't something special. From the opening musical number - "Another Day of Sun," in which commuting Angelinos relieve their road rage by dancing and singing all over a gridlocked freeway - you can tell this movie is going to be something special. The story doesn't boil down to an easy, familiar resolution either. I won't spoil anything, but if you come out of this movie feeling depressed, you need to go back to the box office, buy a ticket to the very next show, and watch the whole thing again. You missed the point.

Stone and Gosling deliver performances that all but secure Oscar nominations, if not wins. They're no Astaire and Rogers; "A Lovely Night" feels like two average people took one dance class and decided to go shoot a big tap-dance number. Having said that, Gosling and Stone's chemistry is as close as Hollywood currently has to those classic duos of yesteryear.

The production design by David Wasco is also quite wonderful. With so many iPhones and Toyota Priuses used by characters throughout the production, (there's a great gag at the valet kiosk when Seb and Mia leave a party in the Hollywood Hills) it's clear that the story takes place in the present day. However the sets and costumes maintain that vintage "Hollywood" feel at the heart of Chazelle's story.

Lastly, I have to mention the incredible original soundtrack by Justin Hurwitz. The marquee tracks "City of Stars" and "Audition" are likely to go neck-and-neck for all the Best Original Song awards this year. "Another Day of Sun" and "Someone In the Crowd" are peppy, toe-tapping ensemble numbers while "A Lovely Night" is reminiscent of classic Broadway duets. "My Time of Day" from Guys & Dolls immediately comes to mind.

You'll have done yourself a disservice if you miss out on La La Land this year. I'm not certain that it's the best film of 2016, but it's up there and is all but assured multiple Oscar wins - including Best Picture.

A

"The Nice Guys" Review

Before he returns to the Predator franchise in 2018, Shane Black delivers another solid (albeit imperfect) comedy caper in The Nice Guys, starring Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling.

The stars play a pair of mismatched private detectives tasked with unraveling a mystery surrounding the death of a porn star in late-'70s Los Angeles. Crowe plays Jackson Healy, a seasoned tough-guy who prefers to get things done with fists and handguns. Gosling is Holland March, the more bumbling of the two who seems to always haphazardly get results at the expense of his personal relationships. His 13-year old daughter Holly (Angourie Rice) disapproves of her dad's drinking and disorganization. Throughout the film, she turns up to reign both her dad and Jackson in as they work towards solving the case.

Black has always written interesting child characters and directed great performances from the actors playing them. That's the case here as Rice delivers a strong performance of a solid character. It's just that Holly feels so superfluous at times. Something's wrong with the script if you've got two of the biggest movie stars in the world constantly leaning on an unknown kid to move the plot forward and keep the audience engaged.

That said, Crowe and Gosling still have ample room to flesh their characters out in this world. They display excellent chemistry even if Gosling remains the more comically inclined of the two.

Things don't really go awry for the film itself until the last 20 or 30 minutes in which a conspiracy between Los Angeles city officials and Detroit auto makers reveals itself. Black creates a very vivid world here that's distinctly '70s West Coast, and then the story betrays it by shoehorning in some weak L.A.-based villains who suddenly seem obsessed with the city of Detroit. This culminates in an underwhelming climax that left me with far more questions than answers.

On the whole, Crowe and Gosling serve up a satisfying number of belly laughs while Black delivers plenty of solid action sequences. The Nice Guys just needs a script with a less hackneyed payoff.

B