Last weekend I saw La La Land for the first time and after hearing nothing but glowing praise (to say the least) I was expecting the greatest musical since Singing in the Rain. While it was a very well-crafted piece of work, I wasn't as in love with it as I thought I would be.
Well, after reflecting on it for about a week I can safely say that I let expectations influence my overall enjoyment of the film. I didn't think this movie would resonate with me like it has. There's always a couple of movie a year that I cannot stop thinking about for days afterward. It happened with the cinematography of The Revenant last year and the editing of Birdman two years ago. I really didn't expect that kind of thing with La La Land, but I've been humming the soundtrack for days, considering the massive achievement in choreography it took to execute the opening dance number on a Los Angeles freeway, and pondering all the references to previous movie musicals and classic films director Damien Chazelle was able to fit into two hours while making something of his own.
My initial response to La La Land was that I really liked it, but didn't love it. Yet, in the past week that reaction has incrementally increased from great appreciation to sincere pleasure. La La Land is not only a technical marvel but an honest-to-goodness likable hit. I regret letting assumptions of what I thought it was going to be like influence my ultimate enjoyment of the film.
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