The film La La Land has been nominated for seven Golden Globes, including best picture. CNBC reports “… every professional needs to see La La Land” because of the unforgettable love story that faces reality. The movie’s simple storytelling absorbs the audience’s attention and treats them to a magical story full of romance, heartbreak, and the obstacles faced when pursing dreams.

This dreamy musical begins with a cheerful and crisp dance routine on an L.A. freeway among drivers waiting in traffic. The enticing and rhythmic pattern of the unique dancers instantly grabs the audience’s attention. The leads: Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, are both sitting in two different cars on the freeway, oblivious to the random outbreak of dance. The entire film displays a magical color scheme of warmth and happiness to viewers.

Director Damien Chazelle designs an intricate path for how two characters eventually meet and fall in love. Gosling and Stone’s charming chemistry exemplifies a pure and innocent romance that people long for in this day and age.

Gosling plays the role of Sebastian, a terrific yet irritable musician who manages to become someone you root for. Stone exposes some of her best acting skills as Mia, an aspiring actress wishful to make it on the big scenes one day. Stone displays a believable range of emotions throughout the film while contributing her natural quirky and humorous personality as well.

La La Land is filled with catchy tunes sure to inspire anyone to break out in song and dance. One sensational component is Ryan Gosling’s piano skills. As a struggling jazz musician in the film, Gosling is constantly on camera with his fingers melodically performing arabesque runs on the piano. There were no close-up shots of his hands in the film, indicating Gosling played the whole time. Although Gosling knew how to play piano prior to the film, he had little to no experience in jazz.  

“It took three hours a day for three months. It was a lot of practicing, but it was well worth it,” said Gosling in an interview with Bill Zwecker from Chicago Sun Times.

Gosling’s hard work truly paid off as he performed numerous jazz songs throughout the entire film. In order to reflect his character’s passion for jazz music, Gosling took it upon himself to conduct in-depth research on the history of jazz.

“A great documentary that I watched on PBS was on jazz by Ken Burns. It was really wonderful and helped me a lot to understand a lot of things about the jazz world,” Gosling said.

American singer-songwriter John Legend also appears in the film as Sebastian’s band-mate. Legend’s character, Keith, is portrayed as an antagonist in the story because he ultimately distracts Sebastian from his true hopes and dreams, bribing him with money and fame. Mia and Sebastian’s relationship begins to struggle as their dreams begin to lead them down two separate paths. They are faced with sacrifice and heartbreak as they choose their ultimate fates.

This beautiful, tragic film is an extended musical drama that contains an unusual ending in the present movie industry. The innocent and pure love of Sebastian and Mia satisfies the hungry hearts of those who desire an honest relationship. The story provides a meaningful lesson: Dreams come with sacrifices. It is ultimately your decision what sacrifices you choose to make.