Before I start, I’d like to address the elephant in the room. I know what you’re thinking. Oh but Jaelyn! Didn’t La La Land come out like a hundred thousand years ago? Yeah but I didn’t watch it until yesterday which was indeed February 12th so shh let’s move on!

La La Land starts with struggling LA actress Mia Dolan (Emma Stone) heading to an audition that gets botched when the casting director gets a phone call during her audition so yeah the vibe was completely wrecked. She goes home sad and her roommates decide to drag her to a super upscale party in the hopes she’ll meet someone who could put her career back on track. However, the party ends in failure and Mia heads back to her car to go home only to find it’s been towed. With a groan, she begins the long walk home in the dark. In LA. How is she not dead because what. Anyway, prior to her audition, she flipped some random guy off on the highway in a good ol’ fit of road rage. But let’s be honest, he’s probably super irrelevant and who cares and- OH MY GOD IS THAT SEBASTIAN WILDER?! A STRUGGLING JAZZ PIANIST AND MIA’S FUTURE LOVE INTEREST?! Yeah uh, that’s him. Anyway, Seb (Ryan Gosling) takes a gig at a nice restaurant playing Christmas music since it’s that time of year but quickly gets carried away and starts playing some jazz which is his true love. The manager quickly fires Seb for deviating from the strict set of Christmas music and he storms off but not before seeing Mia watching him from the entrance. She had come into the restaurant after recognizing the song he played which was also playing from Seb’s car when she flipped him off.

Later, she meets him again by chance at a party where he’s playing in a 1980s cover band. After the party, they walk together to their cars and sing a cutesy-fartsy song which is used to acknowledge but ultimately dismiss the chemistry they have since, ah, Mia has a whole boyfriend- Greg. Don’t worry about him. He’s really not important. I promise.

Anyway, Seb pulls up to Mia’s workplace- a café on the Warner Bros. Backlot. They visit a jazz club and Seb divulges his desire to start a jazz club. He also invites her to a movie. Later, Mia goes on a date she’d previously forgotten with Greg and some other really irrelevant people. Mia gets super bored and runs away from the date to the theater to meet up with Seb. The movie gets interrupted because the film catches fire (don’t ask) so the two run away to the Griffith Observatory and spend some romantic time together. Mia decides to write a one-woman play and Seb plays at a local jazz club and the two move in together. A friend from Seb’s past, Keith, offers him a position as the

keyboardist in his new jazz-fusion band which will provide a steady income. Seb agrees because he overheard a conversation Mia had with her mother on the phone about his lack of a job. Mia and Seb end up in a heated argument. Mia knows Seb doesn’t want to play cheesy jazz-fusion. Seb blames Mia for pressuring him into finding a job.

At this point, their relationship is struggling. It all comes to a head when Seb misses Mia’s play due to a photoshoot with the band he forgot about. He rushes to the play after the photoshoot but it’s already over and Mia breaks down. Opening night had gone horribly, and the few people that attended talked trash about it. Mia ends the relationship and returns to her hometown, giving up on theater. Meanwhile, Seb receives a call from a prominent casting director asking for Mia to come in and audition for an upcoming film. Being blocked in her phone, Seb has no choice but to drive to Mia’s hometown of Boulder City, Nevada and persuade her to go to the auditions in person. After some resistance, Mia gives in and the two head back to LA.

During the audition, Mia is simply asked to tell a story since the movie character is going to be modeled around the actress. Mia ends up singing a song about her alcoholic aunt who died. Yeah. Real good story. You’re doing great sweetie. Anyway, Mia doesn’t think it went well but Seb hypes her up and what do you know, she lands the part. Still, the two go their separate ways. Five years later, Mia is a famous actress married to some random ugly guy with whom she has a kid. One night, the two happen upon a cute little jazz club. Shocked, Mia recognizes the logo of the place as the same one she had designed for Seb years ago. On stage, Seb notices Mia in the crowd and begins to play their theme he’d written. A trippy dream sequence then occurs where the two reminisce on what they could’ve been. They exchange smiles before Mia and her husband leave.

To say I hated the movie would be a lie. Likewise, saying I loved it would also be a lie! It was aesthetically pleasing to watch definitely, but I feel like it was way too overhyped. Their relationship moved incredibly fast, but I think that was the point of it. Also, they got together at probably the worst time they possibly could. However, it does feel like a realistic whirlwind romance. I guess the way Seb and Mia butt heads feels accurate? Basically, I liked the movie but I felt like there could’ve been more. I’m not sure what was missing, but something definitely was.