Damien Chazelle's Whiplash was one of my favourite films of 2015. So it was with a great deal of anticipation that I went in to see Chazelle's latest film, La La Land.
A paean not only to Los Angeles, but to film, to music, to love, La La Land follows jazz pianist Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and aspiring actress Mia (Emma Stone) as they meet and fall in love against the backdrop of the City of Angels.
Where do I start? Chazelle's direction is astonishing and technically accomplished right from the get-go, where a traffic jam on the LA freeway bursts into a huge song-and-dance number. There's a beautiful sequence set in the Griffith Observatory where Sebastian and Mia's relationship intensifies, but Chazelle's directorial flair can also be seen in the smaller, more intimate, scenes where the relationship drama plays out.
Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone play off each other nicely; this is their third collaboration on screen after Crazy Stupid Love and Gangster Squad and they really sell the relationship. Gosling plays Sebastian's earnestness about the purity of jazz with passion and commitment, whilst Stone's Mia is no blushing ingenue- she's a few years into her career, still schlepping to auditions, but not yet disillusioned enough to stop her dreaming. There's able support from Rosemarie DeWitt as Sebastian's sister Laura who makes the most of her single scene, whilst there's also a cameo for Whiplash's J.K. Simmons as Sebastian's boss.
Justin Hurwitz's score is beautiful and the songs range from the upbeat- the opening 'Another Day Of Sun' and the party number 'Someone In The Crowd'- to the melancholic- the beautiful 'City Of Stars' and Mia's 'Audition (The Fools Who Dream). As with all musicals, you do have to accept the inherent ridiculousness of people suddenly bursting out in song, but, if you can't do that, then you really don't have much business seeing a musical to start with.
It's a beautiful film, visually sumptuous, cracking soundtrack, a wryly funny script (also written by Chazelle) with two wonderful lead performances and a nicely bittersweet edge to cut through the candyfloss. I know we're only just getting started with the year, but already I can see this being one of my films of 2017.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Tez
La La Land is on general release from 12th January 2017.
Based on a non-fiction book by Michael Lewis and co-written and directed by Adam McKay (Anchorman), The Big Short tells the story of some of the people who saw the impending collapse of the American housing market in 2008 (which subsequently plunged the world economy into difficulties). These include Dr. Michael Burry (Christian Bale), a hedge fund manager whose head for numbers first discovered the shady dealings which would eventually lead to the housing collapse; amoral trader Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling), who found Burry's proposal and decided to make a killing on it; perpetually angry hedge fund manager Mark Baum (Steve Carell) and his team who get introduced to the deal by Vennett via a wrong number call, and a pair of wet-behind-the-ears investors (John Magaro and Finn Wittrock) who are mentored by a retired banker, Ben Rickert (Brad Pitt).
Performances are generally good. Bale gives a quirky, if slightly mannered, performance as Burry, the mastermind behind the 'short' (essentially betting against the banks). Gosling is assured and strangely likeable as the self-interested, slick Vennett. Carell's performance is maybe the strongest as Baum, angry at the venal self-serving arrogance of the banks and their practices.There are two great supporting turns by Melissa Leo as a ratings agency employee who calls Baum out on his hypocrisy and Marisa Tomei as Baum's wife who helps him through a personal tragedy.
There's a lot I didn't like about the film and most of it is stylistic. I didn't like the breaking of the fourth wall constantly (which I felt detracted from the flow of the story). There are a couple of celebrity cameos to explain some of the more technical points or jargon of the finance world, although they feel shoehorned in and- in the case of Margot Robbie in a bubble bath- slightly exploitative. There's also one of the most blatant pieces of sexposition (ie. setting an important piece of dialogue in a sexual context) when Baum and his team visit a bunch of strippers to explain that things are about to go tits up (excuse the pun). A tighter script could have easily explained these points without resorting to a Family Guy style cutaway.
There are flickers of social commentary and the impact that the banks' recklessness would have. An investigation of an unoccupied housing estate in Florida, where people fled as soon as the eviction notices came in, and a conversation with a tenant who was about to lose his home and not even know it is powerful. Brad Pitt gets a slightly heavy-handed speech about the fact that, if his traders are right and cash in on the collapse, it's at the expense of people's jobs, homes and pensions. The final voiceover by Vennett explaining what actually happened- the bailouts, the bankers avoiding jail (only one banker faced jail time)- and some end-text which explains that the banks are starting to pull the same shit under a different name leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
Having watched the film over the weekend, I'm still at a bit of a loss to describe my reaction to it. It's being marketed as a comedy but I can count on the fingers of one hand the amount of times I actually laughed; it's also a biographical drama but it's a bit too slick and flashy. I'm also quite struggling to get the point of it all as well. The American economy went to hell in a handbasket in 2008 and caused ripples that are still being felt in the world today. We know this; we've lived it. The shady dealings of the banks and their monumental arrogance that they either a) wouldn't get found out or b) refused to acknowledge that the entire business was built on shoddy foundations is well documented.
The film doesn't have the satirical bite of something like The Wolf Of Wall Street and it doesn't get sufficiently angry about the various injustices that the crisis unearthed. A bit of a disappointment.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Tez
Ryan Gosling and director Derek Cianfrance reunite after the emotionally bruising Blue Valentine for The Place Beyond The Pines, a gripping, well-made (if slightly ponderous) crime thriller.
Luke Glanton (Gosling) is a motorbike stunt rider working for a travelling fair. When back in New York, he finds his ex-lover Romina (Eva Mendes) has had a child without telling him. Wanting to provide for his new son, Luke starts pulling off bank robberies. One robbery brings Luke up against policeman Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper), an encounter that has a lasting impact on both their lives- and the lives of their sons fifteen years later.
The film can be roughly broken into three sections- Luke's story, Avery's story and their sons' stories. Gosling is front and centre for the first section, a brooding presence easily bringing to mind his performance in Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive. The Drive comparisons are apt- a laconic stunt driver involved in crime- but luckily there's more to the role (and Gosling's performance) than a mere facsimile. He's a man wanting to do right but going about it in the wrong way. The heists and subsequent chases are thrilling and giddily shot but there is a tendency towards ponderous shots of Gosling looking enigmatically into the distance.
Bradley Cooper proves his dramatic performance in Silver Linings Playbook was not a one-off, with a decent and nuanced turn as an idealistic rookie given a crash course in the murkier side of police life. For me, this second section is the most successful part of the film. It's certainly the best written section, transcending what could be a stock cliched situation (hero cop tempted by the dark side) to something deeper. Cooper's performance is excellent and his clashes with fellow police officers (including Bruce Greenwood and the brilliantly psychotic Ray Liotta) really spark.
The final section- featuring Luke's now teenage son Jason (Dane DeHaan) and Avery's son AJ (Emory Cohen)- is perhaps the least successful section for me. DeHaan's performance as the conflicted Jason is powerful but I really wasn't sold on AJ. I don't know whether it's because of Cohen's performance or if because the character of AJ, as written, comes across as a spoilt entitled brat. This part of the story has a lot of potential for some real high drama- Jason and AJ's nascent friendship is bound to be ripped apart, due to the revelations of the past- but what should be a gutwrench is more of a damp squib. However, there's a powerful stand-off between Cooper and DeHaan to redeem it.
This is a real Boys Own adventure with the female characters being rather shortchanged- a shame, considering Blue Valentine had such a strongly characterised female lead. Mendes is good with what she's given but it's a slightly thankless role, whilst Rose Byrne doesn't get much to do as Avery's wife Jennifer. Because the thrust of the story is very much 'the sins of the father being visited on the son', the female characters are very incidental.
There's a few niggles that prevent The Place Beyond The Pines from being truly great for me. Nonetheless, it's still an eminently watchable film, if only for Bradley Cooper's tremendous performance in the second act.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Tez
