La La Land

La La Land is a 2016 American romantic musical comedy-drama movie. Its title is a reference to the nickname for the city of Los Angeles. It is also an idiom for being out of touch with reality.

La La Land
Official Logo
Directed by	Damien Chazelle
Written by	Damien Chazelle
Produced by	Fred Berger Jordan Horowitz Gary Gilbert Marc Platt
Starring	Ryan Gosling Emma Stone John Legend Rosemarie DeWitt
Cinematography	Linus Sandgren
Edited by	Tom Cross
Music by	Justin Hurwitz
Production companies	Summit Entertainment Black Label Media Impostor Pictures Gilbert Films Marc Platt Productions
Distributed by	Summit Entertainment
Release dates	August 31, 2016 (2016-08-31) (Venice Film Festival) December 9, 2016 (2016-12-09) (United States)
Running time	128 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$30 million
Box office	$447.4 million

Plot

On a crowded Los Angeles highway, an aspiring actress named Mia is distracted by her preparation for an upcoming audition. That leads to a moment of road rage between her and a pianist named Sebastian. Her audition is yet another failure. At the same time, Sebastian is having a problem paying his bills. This leads to an argument with his sister, Laura. Mia's car is towed. She has to walk back to her apartment.

Sebastian is told by the owner of a restaurant not to play any jazz. Instead, he plays simple variations of Christmas songs. But he begins a heartfelt improvisation at the restaurant. Mia overhears Sebastian playing. She is moved by his talent, and goes to watch him play. Sebastian, however, is quickly fired.

Months later, Mia goes to another party. She sees Sebastian again. He is now playing as the keyboardist for a 1980s pop music cover band. Mia requests that the band play "I Ran (So Far Away)" by A Flock of Seagulls. Afterward the two walk together and look for their cars.

Five years later, Mia is a famous actress. She is married to another man, with whom she has a daughter.

Cast

• Ryan Gosling as Sebastian Wilder
• Emma Stone as Mia Dolan
• John Legend as Keith
• Rosemarie DeWitt as Laura Wilder
• J. K. Simmons as Bill
• Finn Wittrock as Greg Earnest
• Tom Everett Scott as David
• Meagen Fay as Mia's Mom
• Damon Gupton as Harry
• Jason Fuchs as Carlo
• Jessica Rothe as Alexis
• Sonoya Mizuno as Caitlin
• Callie Hernandez as Tracy
• Josh Pence as Josh

Release

The world premiere for La La Land was at the Venice Film Festival. It was an opening night movie on August 31, 2016. The movie also showed at the Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and many others.

Country	Premiere
South Korea	7 December 2016
Israel	8 December 2016
Singapore	8 December 2016
Lithuania	9 December 2016
Pakistan	9 December 2016
Taiwan	9 December 2016
Aruba	15 December 2016
Croatia	15 December 2016
Estonia	16 December 2016
India	16 December 2016
Latvia	16 December 2016
Suriname	16 December 2016
Vietnam	16 December 2016
Colombia	22 December 2016
Cyprus	22 December 2016
Greece	22 December 2016
Netherlands	22 December 2016
Romania	23 December 2016
United States	25 December 2016
Australia	26 December 2016
Hungary	29 December 2016
Kuwait	29 December 2016
Slovakia	29 December 2016
Bulgaria	30 December 2016
Turkey	30 December 2016
Cambodia	4 January 2017
Czech Republic	5 January 2017
Lebanon	5 January 2017
North Macedonia	5 January 2017
Uruguay	5 January 2017
Kosovo	5 January 2017
Indonesia	10 January 2017
Philippines	11 January 2017
Germany	12 January 2017
Georgia	12 January 2017
Ireland	12 January 2017
Kazakhstan	12 January 2017
Russia	12 January 2017
Thailand	12 January 2017
Ukraine	12 January 2017
Spain	13 January 2017
Finland	13 January 2017
United Kingdom	13 January 2017
Jamaica	18 January 2017
Trinidad and Tobago	18 January 2017
Brazil	19 January 2017
Chile	19 January 2017
Peru	19 January 2017
Poland	20 January 2017
Venezuela	20 January 2017
Belgium	25 January 2017
France	25 January 2017
Argentina	26 January 2017
Costa Rica	26 January 2017
Guatemala	26 January 2017
Hong Kong	26 January 2017
Honduras	26 January 2017
Italy	26 January 2017
Nicaragua	26 January 2017
Panama	26 January 2017
Portugal	26 January 2017
El Salvador	26 January 2017
Sweden	27 January 2017
South Africa	27 January 2017
Dominican Republic	2 February 2017
China	14 February 2017
Bolivia	16 February 2017
Ecuador	17 February 2017
Denmark	23 February 2017
Japan	24 February 2017
Norway	24 February 2017

Box office

La La Land has taken in more than $85 million against a budget of $30 million. The movie was released in the United States in December 2016. In January 2017, the movie showed in more theaters for a total of 1,515 theaters.

Critical response

La La Land was named by Peter Travers as his favorite movie of 2016. Other critics gave the movie high marks. Rotten Tomatoes rated the movie 91%.

Awards

La La Land won a number of awards. At the Golden Globe Awards, it won seven awards. These included Best Picture-Musical or Comedy, Best Actor-Musical or Comedy and Best Actress-Musical or Comedy.