La La Land vs. The Last 5 Years

nclysander

on 9/24/2017

These two largely have the same premise: two ambitious artists fall in and out of love. The material is better in TL5Y: the characters are more complex, and the songs are modern musical theatre classics, whereas La La Land gave us one of the blandest Oscar winners in recent history in "City of Stars." But the execution is better in Chazelle's film, especially the use of color. The cinematography in The Last Five Years is, frankly, amateurish. I liked the female leads in both films, with Stone elevating her material and Kendrick getting an ideal showcase in hers. Unfortunately, things are a little rougher on the distaff side: Gosling can't sing and Jordan can't act. (Jake Gyllenhaal would have improved either of these movies.) Overall, I'm giving this to LLL for being better directed and working better as a movie, but TL5Y is worth watching for Anna Kendrick.