Emma Stone plays Mia Dolan, the aforementioned struggling actress who, in between auditions, works at a coffee shop on a Hollywood lot. Stone is certainly believable in this aspect, but really what's so remarkable is how absolutely luminous she is in every single scene of this film. Stone's eyes couldn't be more expressive here, of particular note in this regard is her first audition scene. Speaking of the audition scenes, Stone is excellent in every single one. She brings Mia's passion truly to life and when one audition after the other doesn't go the way she hoped, Stone portrays each defeat as a little more crushing each time, leading up to the final one, which I will get to later.
One of the biggest strengths of this performance is really just the sheer star power that radiates off of Stone in every frame. She is impossibly endearing here, and I honestly couldn't get enough of her. Stone has such a perfect grasp on the tone of the film that she makes every moment work, even the smaller ones like forcing a smile at the end of an awkward audition or running lines in her car, not a single moment is wasted in Stone's performance.
The main crux of Stone's performance here is her chemistry with her co-star Ryan Gosling as Sebastian. Every other character besides Mia and Sebastian are basically extras, so it's essential the two lead actors have chemistry together, and boy do they. They are absolutely perfect together and create one of the great movie romances in years. The two are so completely in sync with each other and the film that it's pretty wonderful to watch. One moment in particular I love with the two of them is when Mia requests the song "I Ran" from the 80's tribute band Sebastian is reluctantly playing with. Stone's dancing and mocking of Sebastian is hilarious (I specifically love the moment where she mimes "Me? Oh, stop." in response to the lyric "...meet a girl like you"), and she tops it all off with an absolutely perfect ear-to-ear grin in his direction.
It's not all joy though. Mia is struggling, after all, and as an actress Stone gets most of the emotional beats of the story, and she does not waste the opportunity. Every setback hurts Mia a little bit more, and because Stone has made her so likable it becomes particularly hard to watch, in particular her confrontation with Sebastian after the disastrous opening night of her play. Probably the best dialogue-based scene in the film is the dinner fight between Mia and Sebastian. Stone is incredible here as she desperately tries to make some sense out of Sebastian's sudden change in attitude, and when Sebastian shoots back at Mia that she only liked him because his failures made her feel better about herself, Stone is heartbreaking as she shows just how deeply this hurts her.
Now, this all leads to her final audition scene, in which she sings "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)". I promised I'd get back to this scene, because it's one that needs to be talked about. Stone is quite frankly astonishing in this scene. I haven't mentioned her singing at all in this review, because, frankly, I don't think it's all that important. Stone isn't a great singer, although she's certainly more than decent, but what I care about is how the singing is worked into the performance. This scene is one of the best examples of that I can think of as she starts telling her story very quietly and slowly starts to build as she becomes more emotional. Stone is truly amazing here, as she passionately and emotionally crafts this tribute to the "Fools Who Dream". I really can't praise her performance in this scene enough, she's just that great. This is one scene that never fails to hit me hard.
The finale of the film is really a showcase for the director Damien Chazelle, as it's more about showing off his great direction, the beautiful costumes, production design and cinematography, and the gorgeous score, but the very ending of the film is left to the actors. The two only share a look in the end, but it's more than enough. The final bittersweet smile is a perfect end to this absolutely flawless performance by Emma Stone.
5/5
