La La Land * * * * *

What a beautiful film! And right at the end of the year!  Like they’ve been saving the best for last.

La La Land is a romantic musical in the grand tradition of the musicals from the 40s and 50s. But it’s not time-shifted.  It takes place today.
Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is an aspiring jazz pianist, but works tinkling keys in a restaurant: He’s good but no one listens to him (neither would I. I hate musicians in restaurants, they don’t belong there).  Sebastian would agree with me. He too thinks Jazz belong in Jazz clubs, and that is what he wants to start - his own Jazz club.

Ryan and Emma
Stealing our hearts

Mia (Emma Stone) is an aspiring actress who works in a coffee shop.She is constantly going to auditions but her ambition is breaking down with her resilience as she encounters rejection after rejection.
Their chance encounters are abrasive and unpleasant and cruelly funny. They both know how to press the sarcastic sweet spot. But having seen the worst of each other (or so they think) they find themselves looking for the best from each other.
From the opening scene you know you’re in for a good time, when a traffic jam on an LA freeway turns into a song and dance routine as everyone manages the frustration of the jam by abandoning their cars.
From there we are treated to many more song and dance numbers - and they’re all good!  They also take up most of the first half of this film.
It’s not until you are well into the second half that you notice the tone has changed. The singing and dancing has stopped, stylisation has changed to reality. Sebastian and Mia are not getting along the way they used to as both have compromised their dreams to cope with reality.  
Does the singing and dancing start again before the film is over? Yes, it does but I'm not going to spoil it for you by letting you know the tone. A tone which reflects their situations.
Director Damien Chazelle gave us Whiplash, that fabulous 2014 film about a young man who wanted to be a jazz drummer and went through hell to get there.  La La Land tells a similar story with a similar message (and a healthy one) - success doesn't come easy.  It takes hard, hard work and determination. With these two utterly brilliant films under his belt, I sense the message is something that Damien Chazelle is personally familiar with.