La-La-Love

Have you seen La La Land?

 

My mother is very fond of spoiling the plot of movies and shows, and THEN saying "Spoiler alert!"  You know, just to confirm that she has indeed spoiled the plot of the movie for me.  Unlike my mother, I have a firm understanding of what a spoiler alert is, and I will say now in no uncertain terms that I am about to spoil the plot for you.  So if you haven't yet seen the movie and hope to someday, read no further.

In other words, SPOILER ALERT!

Before we watched La La Land last weekend, my sister checked doesthedogdie.com, just to make sure we weren't in for any surprise animal deaths.  The website described the movie as "a lighthearted romp where neither animals nor people are in danger."

Lighthearted, indeed.  This movie was a delight!

I'm a fan of movie musicals.  Every time I visited my grandmother as a child I'd immediately pull out the VHS recordings of "A Chorus Line" and "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers."  They were both on the must-watch list for my visit.  My mom started taking me to the theater at a young age.  I love to sing.  I performed in all of my school musicals.  Did I mention that I love musicals?

Considering this, I was immediately taken in by this movie's opening scene, which featured a crowd of young Hollywood hopefuls singing and dancing atop cars parked in a highway traffic jam.  The fun didn't stop there.  Emma Stone and the oh so dreamy Ryan Gosling couple up.  She, an aspiring actress, and he a jazz musician with dreams of opening his own club.  They sing and dance their way throughout the film, making us think back to Old Hollywood in its style, even though the setting is current day.  Small details in wardrobe and scenery added to the nostalgia brilliantly.

But let's talk about the ending.

I didn't feel so lighthearted about the ending.

Five years after chasing their respective dreams led them in opposite directions, they DO NOT find their way back to one another!  Even though they have proclaimed that they will always love each other!  WHAT GIVES?  I'm a fan of a neat and happy ending, and that's not what I got.

SO, should I be sad that they'll spend the rest of their lives grieving their relationship that wasn't meant to be?  Or was the flashback/fantasy of the lifetime of togetherness just there to illustrate that if they hadn't parted ways when they did, one of them would have had to give up on their dream?  WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? 

Seriously, I wish they could have it both ways- true love for life and career dreams realized.  But alas, I must be disappointed.  And yet shockingly, despite this, I loved this movie.

What did YOU think about the ending?