Starring:
Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga
Sam Elliott, Dave Chappelle, Andrew Dice Clay, Anthony Ramos
There's a scene near the end of Bradley Cooper's A Star Is Born that sums up the very nature of the film. Bobby (Elliott) is explaining to Ally (Gaga) what Jackson Maine (Cooper)'s perspective on music is. He says:
For many, the first thing A Star Is Born must do is convince the audience that Lady Gaga can be taken seriously as an actress. Her performance as The Countess on American Horror Story: Hotel did not resonate as much as Jessica Lange's performances in earlier seasons. As Ally, Gaga quickly sheds away any doubts you may have had. Some of her most memorable scenes are the musical numbers but we already knew she could sing. It is in the subtleties and layers she adds into her performance, and the growth she is able to portray in Ally that make her a great actress in this role. It's visible in the way she changes her tone while talking to her father. It's in the annoyance evident on her face as she spars with her manager. Ally is a simple character; an audience stand-in, yet Gaga makes her more than that. She adds body language and complexity to make Ally stand out. If you think of Gaga's evolving art and videos, it seems like Ally and A Star Is Born fit into her pantheon as her "next step" and not a transformative performance in the slightest. Could she pull off another performance like this, or is this she great in this film because it so closely mirrors her past? Only time will tell.
If Gaga is the one we're all watching, it's Cooper that hammers the story home. It's stunning that he was able to pull off such a feat. The man at one time most recognizable from The Hangover now has directed, co-produced, co-written the screenplay, gave his career-best performance, sang and played the guitar, and co-wrote the music of A Star Is Born. None of this is lacking, and I have not the slightest clue how he pulled it off. As Jackson Maine, Cooper is a drunken superstar addicted to pills. Addiction is the film's true message, and Cooper does not shy away from the more gruesome and gut-wrenching consequences. While his addictions to alcohol and drugs are the most apparent, he is also addicted to fame as well as addicted to the dependence he enjoys at the hands of his brother, Bobby and Ally. He lacks responsibility and utilizes this dependence to keep them around. Yet the chemistry between Gaga and Cooper is so raw and believable and he never comes off as the villain in his own story, nor does Ally. In a clichéd film, blame would need to be placed. In A Star Is Born, Jackson's negative qualities are well recognized as results of a debilitating addiction, and the audience is always rooting for the couple to find a way out of their fix.
The less than ideal qualities of A Star Is Born really lie in its pacing. The film is nearly two and a half hours long, far too long for a drama and more reminiscent of a Transformers film. I wish I could say everything felt necessary, but an overconfident manager of Ally comes off as a stale caricature that stands out among the three-dimensional ones — and not in a good way. You get force-fed the classic "Change your appearance" storyline that's been recycled time and time again. This is where the repetitive idea of A Star Is Born almost takes shape. The film's starts off with a bang, wasting no time to introduce Jack's alcoholism and Ally's talent. Jack first encounters her in a drag bar, (a nice nod to Gaga's roots in the LGBT community) where she delivers a stunning performance of Édith Piaf's "La Vie en Rose" (in the original French!) and it sold me from the very start. It is easy to see how he fell in love with her voice. Though the start of their chemistry is awkward, it is very realistic. As she gets increasingly famous, the film feels a little stereotypical in its cautionary tale of fame. Like I said earlier, the message is not anything new, but it works as a catalyst to get plot points moving. For a script so strong in its dialogue, it's lacking in plot movement in these middle scenes. Characters get on planes, get in cars, and travel around in a way that would make your head spin if you actually tried to think of the logic.
Lastly, I'd like to make note of the soundtrack. "Shallow" is clearly the standout, and don't be surprised if it wins the Oscar for Best Original Song, or maybe even a Grammy. It combines the best of Gaga and Cooper, and is as emotionally resonant as it is simply a well-crafted piece of music. The final song, titled "I'll Never Love Again" lends Gaga her most powerful scene in the film. No one who sees that performance would argue that she is deserving of an Academy Award, as it looks more and more likely that she has a chance to win one. Gaga's other solo efforts as Ally are great, though there are some misfires in her (to quote my mother) "Britney Spears" songs, though they were supposed to be lacking in quality. That was their role in driving the story. If you were to take Gaga's thirteen songs, it would arguably create her single best album. My favorite thing about the music is that it never seemed like a stereotypical "musical" in the style of La La Land or Singin' in the Rain. Characters didn't break out in song and the music was spread out enough and contained in a sense that made this a drama about music rather than a musical. Cooper and Gaga effectively captured the stadium feeling of live music, and it truly captured a snapshot of what a concert is like.
A Star Is Born is a film that sweeps you off your feet and spits you out feeling cold. It is in no way, shape, or form a feel-good movie, but it is an important story. It has been told over and over and each generation presents a fresh take. In a couple decades, we'll probably see the next version of the ill-fated relationship of the Maines. It's the kind of story we can't get enough of because though the times change, addiction remains a constant problem that we have to address. Hopefully, A Star Is Born is able to introduce this to a new generation of fans.
There's a scene near the end of Bradley Cooper's A Star Is Born that sums up the very nature of the film. Bobby (Elliott) is explaining to Ally (Gaga) what Jackson Maine (Cooper)'s perspective on music is. He says:
"Music is essentially twelve notes between any octave. Twelve notes and the octave repeats. It's the same story told over and over, forever. All any artist can offer the world is how they see those twelve notes. That's it."
This is the fifth version of A Star Is Born, and as franchise fatigue weighs heavy on Hollywood, it would not be a stretch to assume this film follows a similarly repetitive formula. Bobby's line is not only indicative of the nature of music, but also the nature of the story at hand. Why do we keep returning to a tragic story of addiction set to the backdrop of fame? As entertainment changes drastically over decades, what is the core that drives the tragedy of the Maines? In his directorial debut, Bradley Cooper has offered the world his vision of those "twelve notes", and has crafted a film that stands out among the other four iterations yet remains true to the classic tale. It is at times a sweeping romantic drama, and at other times a rousing musical. But it is at that "core" where the darker elements of A Star Is Born always lie, and this 2018 adaptation explores the horrors and tragedies of addiction in a way I have never seen on the screen before. Bradley Cooper had a difficult balancing act in front of him, and he succeeds nearly every obstacle in driving home Jack and Ally's story.
For many, the first thing A Star Is Born must do is convince the audience that Lady Gaga can be taken seriously as an actress. Her performance as The Countess on American Horror Story: Hotel did not resonate as much as Jessica Lange's performances in earlier seasons. As Ally, Gaga quickly sheds away any doubts you may have had. Some of her most memorable scenes are the musical numbers but we already knew she could sing. It is in the subtleties and layers she adds into her performance, and the growth she is able to portray in Ally that make her a great actress in this role. It's visible in the way she changes her tone while talking to her father. It's in the annoyance evident on her face as she spars with her manager. Ally is a simple character; an audience stand-in, yet Gaga makes her more than that. She adds body language and complexity to make Ally stand out. If you think of Gaga's evolving art and videos, it seems like Ally and A Star Is Born fit into her pantheon as her "next step" and not a transformative performance in the slightest. Could she pull off another performance like this, or is this she great in this film because it so closely mirrors her past? Only time will tell.
If Gaga is the one we're all watching, it's Cooper that hammers the story home. It's stunning that he was able to pull off such a feat. The man at one time most recognizable from The Hangover now has directed, co-produced, co-written the screenplay, gave his career-best performance, sang and played the guitar, and co-wrote the music of A Star Is Born. None of this is lacking, and I have not the slightest clue how he pulled it off. As Jackson Maine, Cooper is a drunken superstar addicted to pills. Addiction is the film's true message, and Cooper does not shy away from the more gruesome and gut-wrenching consequences. While his addictions to alcohol and drugs are the most apparent, he is also addicted to fame as well as addicted to the dependence he enjoys at the hands of his brother, Bobby and Ally. He lacks responsibility and utilizes this dependence to keep them around. Yet the chemistry between Gaga and Cooper is so raw and believable and he never comes off as the villain in his own story, nor does Ally. In a clichéd film, blame would need to be placed. In A Star Is Born, Jackson's negative qualities are well recognized as results of a debilitating addiction, and the audience is always rooting for the couple to find a way out of their fix.
The less than ideal qualities of A Star Is Born really lie in its pacing. The film is nearly two and a half hours long, far too long for a drama and more reminiscent of a Transformers film. I wish I could say everything felt necessary, but an overconfident manager of Ally comes off as a stale caricature that stands out among the three-dimensional ones — and not in a good way. You get force-fed the classic "Change your appearance" storyline that's been recycled time and time again. This is where the repetitive idea of A Star Is Born almost takes shape. The film's starts off with a bang, wasting no time to introduce Jack's alcoholism and Ally's talent. Jack first encounters her in a drag bar, (a nice nod to Gaga's roots in the LGBT community) where she delivers a stunning performance of Édith Piaf's "La Vie en Rose" (in the original French!) and it sold me from the very start. It is easy to see how he fell in love with her voice. Though the start of their chemistry is awkward, it is very realistic. As she gets increasingly famous, the film feels a little stereotypical in its cautionary tale of fame. Like I said earlier, the message is not anything new, but it works as a catalyst to get plot points moving. For a script so strong in its dialogue, it's lacking in plot movement in these middle scenes. Characters get on planes, get in cars, and travel around in a way that would make your head spin if you actually tried to think of the logic.
Lastly, I'd like to make note of the soundtrack. "Shallow" is clearly the standout, and don't be surprised if it wins the Oscar for Best Original Song, or maybe even a Grammy. It combines the best of Gaga and Cooper, and is as emotionally resonant as it is simply a well-crafted piece of music. The final song, titled "I'll Never Love Again" lends Gaga her most powerful scene in the film. No one who sees that performance would argue that she is deserving of an Academy Award, as it looks more and more likely that she has a chance to win one. Gaga's other solo efforts as Ally are great, though there are some misfires in her (to quote my mother) "Britney Spears" songs, though they were supposed to be lacking in quality. That was their role in driving the story. If you were to take Gaga's thirteen songs, it would arguably create her single best album. My favorite thing about the music is that it never seemed like a stereotypical "musical" in the style of La La Land or Singin' in the Rain. Characters didn't break out in song and the music was spread out enough and contained in a sense that made this a drama about music rather than a musical. Cooper and Gaga effectively captured the stadium feeling of live music, and it truly captured a snapshot of what a concert is like.
A Star Is Born is a film that sweeps you off your feet and spits you out feeling cold. It is in no way, shape, or form a feel-good movie, but it is an important story. It has been told over and over and each generation presents a fresh take. In a couple decades, we'll probably see the next version of the ill-fated relationship of the Maines. It's the kind of story we can't get enough of because though the times change, addiction remains a constant problem that we have to address. Hopefully, A Star Is Born is able to introduce this to a new generation of fans.
Rating:
9/10 Stars
