If you’re a fan of musicals, romance movies and Ryan Gosling, you’re in luck. La La Land has all this and more. The film and follows an aspiring actress named Mia, played by Emma Stone, and struggling to jazz pianist Sebastian, played by Ryan Gosling. The two encourage each other to follow their dreams, and as their relationship develops, find it harder than they originally thought. Mia dreams of starring in major motion pictures, and Sebastian wishes to open his own jazz club. Achieving their goals is easy, but maintaining a relationship isn’t.

I was a huge fan of the plot. It did a fantastic job emphasizing how hard you have to work to accomplish your goals. You’re going to fail multiple times in your life, but if you learn from those mistakes, eventually you will succeed. I also liked that they didn’t make Mia and Sebastian rely on each other. They could support each other to the best of their ability, but they had to achieve their own goals by themselves.

The actors were amazing as well. Emma Stone really emphasized Mia’s fear of failing and her determination to achieve her goals. Ryan Gosling did great showing Sebastian’s passion for jazz and his struggle to interact socially. Sebastian is very headstrong and stubborn and Gosling portrayed that perfectly. Both actors had great chemistry and played off each other really well. They brought to light how well their characters complimented each other.

Another thing that impressed me was the scenery and the music. The movie is set in Los Angeles and the scenery is beautiful. The director made great choices using backgrounds with natural vibrant colors that added to the fantasy feeling of the film. The music blew me away. It completely discouraged any knowledge I had of jazz previous to watching this movie. Sebastian played classic jazz with a slightly modern twist that made the music feel alive. The music combined with the scenery really brought out the fantasy factor of the film and brought it to another level.

I would definitely recommend La La Land to anyone 13 and older, due to language. It has great life lessons, good actors, and great music. Not to mention, Ryan Gosling is in it. That’s a good enough reason by itself to watch this film. I rate it 4.5 out of 5 sold out theaters.

Watching La La Land was like riding a roller coaster, a fun ride with highs and lows throughout. Give it a chance and I promise you’ll come to love Mia and Sebastian as much as I do.