REVIEW: A Star Is Born

Directed by Bradley Cooper
2018 Musical Romance Drama
2 hours 15 minutes
From Warner Bros

Starring
Lady Gaga
Bradley Cooper
Sam Elliott
Andrew Dice Clay
Rafi Gavron
Anthony Ramos
Dave Chapelle

There will be those who could take me to task for not giving out my highest rating of four stars and slobbering all over myself extolling the many virtues of the film, citing it as the greatest movie ever and hoping it wins more Oscars than Avatar.  I do not doubt for a moment that it will be one of the more popular movies of the year in the public's eyes but even critics are giving it high praise.

I get the public conception the easiest.  By and large they don't ask for much.  Hire one of the most popular singers of the day for her big screen starring debut, add a popular leading man, have one loud rock concert scene after another, add some popcorn and voila!  This heady mix results in one damned popular, entertaining movie.

I am a little more surprised at the critics' falling all over themselves but perhaps all of this explains why I went to my 10 a.m. showing full of anticipation of seeing something incredibly special.  I am reminded of that old adage anticipation is half the joy.  I'd say that's just about right.

But hey, before the slings and arrows come too heavily, let's take note that I gave the film three stars and gimme a break while I apply some Mercurochrome and bandages.  Okay, let's dive into it.

Don't most of us know this isn't the first time this film has been made?  This is the fourth telling.  Some of you may not know there was a 1937 version with Janet Gaynor and Fredric March (who?).  Then there was a highly-acclaimed 1954 version with Judy Garland and James Mason (actually Warner Bros. butchered this version but it was later-- much later-- restored to its original glory) and then there was Barbra Streisand's vanity version in 1976.

So this story has been available for viewing for some 80 years.  The arc of all of them is the same...  a talented nobody latches on to a talented somebody, a star; they marry and as her fame escalates, his dissipates, ending in tragedy.  It is a melancholy look at fame, a subject which burns bright for audiences, and a story that Hollywood dearly loves which seems to be why it needs to be remade every few decades.

The first two versions were about movie people.  The Garland version incorporated music because it would be unthinkable in those days to hire her for a film without songs.  The Streisand sampling, not as successful with critics as hoped for, turned the romantic couple into singers.  This current version mostly resembles the Streisand movie, although better.

Gaga's first song is also the most famous song in the film, La Vie en Rose, and it thrilled me.  But I had to wait until the film's final song, I'll Never Love Again, to hear another one I liked.  I'm guessing it will be up for an Oscar.  All the songs in between ranged from so-so to I'll-take-a-pass, although, like all music, it's simply a personal preference.  I am not fond of performances where the music is so loud that one cannot decipher the lyrics.  I am most resistant to rock concerts or in Cooper's case, what?, alt-country.  Gaga, by the way, made it a condition of making the film that all music be sung live.  No lip-synching... no thanks.... very rare for a movie.

The emotional depth that is conveyed is most pleasing, especially those tender scenes in the beginning when they're getting acquainted.  The looks these two give one another, particularly him to her, are so touching... kinda made the hair on the back of my head stand up. 

The film loses much of its steam in the second half after their roles are reversed and she is on top and he is hellbent on drinking and drugging himself into semi-consciousness.  It's their chemistry in the beginning that is so award-winning but the second half seems more forced and formulaic.

What is quite wonderful here is the acting.  Gaga (top-billed in the film's credits while Cooper is top-billed in print ads) gives a real breakout performance and a disciplined one.  I detected nary a false note.  I hope she does more acting... there's as much talent there as there is in everything else she does.  It is incredible how different she looks in her natural brunette and even red in the second half from her normal platinum blonde.  She said the first thing she did after wrapping the film was to go blonde again.  I don't know if this is the best female performance of the year but an Oscar nomination wouldn't be at all surprising or unreasonable.

As much talk as there is about her, it is Cooper who I thought dominated the film in the acting department.  If this isn't his best role, it is certainly one of them.  His battered Jackson Maine, who doesn't seem to know how to live offstage, is never unlikable but he is troubled and out of control and yet Cooper brings much pathos to the role.  He proved to be a good singer.  Willie Nelson's son, Lukas, taught Cooper to play the guitar.

It's astonishing that Cooper did all he did in the acting department and still directed as well as he did.  He has said he wanted to be a director even before becoming an actor.  This was an ambitious project particularly for a first-time director.  I can't imagine that he won't be nominated for a directing Oscar.  

Perhaps Cooper will be nominated for Oscar's best director and best actor.  He wouldn't be the first but I don't think anyone has ever won in both categories. Laurence Olivier and Roberto Benigni, I believe, are the only two who directed themselves to acting Oscars (Olivier for Hamlet, 1948, and Benigni for Life Is Beautiful, 1998).  C'mon, Bradley, make some history.

The look of the film is perfect.  The concert scenes were actually integrated with actual festivals at Coachella Valley and at the Pyramid Stage of Glastonberry, both in 2017.

I would have liked to have seen these two talented actors in some other story rather than the reworking of an old tale.  (Actually, this story has been told even more times than the four we've spoken of... 1932's What Price Hollywood being just one of them.)  And as far as the four versions of Star are concerned, I still give the nod to the 1954 film.

At its heart, A Star Is Born is a cautionary tale.  Anyone who wants to be famous should have a look at it... take paper and pencil.  Its unstable narrative seems to suggest the oft-used expression be careful what you wish for.


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