Jazz, romance, and music. And Ryan Gosling. Add all of that together, and what do you get? 

La La Land. It is also known as the best movie ever created, by me. It’s one of those movies that I’m like, “Oh, my GOD I WISH I THOUGHT OF THAT FIRST!!” 

According to IMDb, La La Land was a 2016 American musical romance film about an actress and a pianist falling in love while balancing their future aspirations and navigating their careers in Los Angeles. The two protagonists, Mia and Sebastian, were played by Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling respectively. 

Now, it seems like your typical “meet-cute” type of movie. Although it contains elements, it did not come with the “I’m so in love with you, let’s get married and have seven kids in a big house with a white picket fence” ending. Anyways. I’m still sobbing. 

The music was written by Justin Hurwitz, and — oh, my GOD — it was mesmerizing, it was whimsical. A mix of styles, rhythms, and instruments created so many different atmospheres, exciting or not. I thank Hurwitz for creating such a devastatingly beautiful soundtrack. My favorite song, or instrumental, actually, was “Epilogue”. A quiet, delicate piano quickly moves into a full, loud, booming orchestra entangled with a solo trumpet and jazz. It was definitely one of my new favorite instrumentals after the “Pirates of the Caribbean” theme. 

Other than the music, however, I want to focus more on the theme. It taught me a lot about love. It’s complex, it’s manipulative, it’s alluring. It’s not your cliché fairytale, “the guy always gets the girl” movie. I don’t mean to spoil. Much, at least. BUT THAT ENDING BROKE ME. Overall, the movie conveyed love in a more realistic light. 

DON’T READ THIS FOR SPOILERS: You can’t have cake and eat it, too, you know? I’m really happy that Mia and Sebastian didn’t give up their dreams for each other. It sets it apart from a ton of other romance movies. You love and lose, and that’s one of the biggest lessons you could ever learn. 

Anyhow, this movie has been on my watchlist for years. I’ve been hearing about it ever since it came out, and then one of my classmates said, “La La Land is my favorite movie, for real.” And now, my heart is broken. And I spent about two hours watching one of my newest favorite movies instead of studying for my finals. 

La La Land available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.