A Star is Born is the third remake of the 1937 original. This iteration stars Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, while also being the directorial debut of Bradley Cooper. Bradley Cooper plays Jack, a washed-up musician who encounters Lady Gaga’s character, Ally, performing at a bar. He becomes enamored with her performance, so he gets her to perform with him. From there, a romance blossoms. But, when the limelight and the substance abuse catches up to them, conflict begins, sending their relationship into a hurricane.
I have not seen a single previous A Star is Born film. This is my only exposure to the movies of the same name, so I am not able to compare it to the previous films. With that said, this iteration of A Star is Born is fantastic. It takes a love story that has been done many times before, and spruces it up with excellent presentation, characters, performances, writing, and music.
To break it down piece by piece, we’ll start with the presentation. This is Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut, and what a debut it is. The cinematography is gorgeous, mixing bright, vibrant colors with rustic environments and a close-up and personal filming style. What I appreciate the most is when the characters are performing onstage, the camera is right there with them. The camerawork never comes from the perspective of the audience. It made me feel like I was onstage performing with the characters. Aesthetically, this film is beautiful.
The praises don’t stop there. The characters presented are fascinating. Ally and Jack are fully fledged, three-dimensional characters with their own strengths and flaws, and seeing them develop throughout the film was very interesting and well-paced. They also have great chemistry with each other. Their relationship was realistic and charming, and seeing it grow and eventually deteriorate was equal parts entertaining and tragic.
It certainly helps that all the performances are fantastic. Bradley Cooper completely altered his persona for this movie to the point of being practically unrecognizable. I never saw Bradley Cooper in this film; I saw Jack. As for Lady Gaga, she completely surprised me. I knew she was an incredible singer, but I completely underestimated her acting abilities. She gives a performance that is equal parts powerful and nuanced. This role was made for her, and she completely blew me away. The third standout performance comes from Sam Elliott as Bobby, Jack’s helper and mentor. He’s not in the film much, but he steals every scene he’s in. The relationship between him and Jack is riveting, and it makes for some of the best character moments of the entire film. These three actors stand out in a movie of phenomenal acting.
The most impressive aspect of this film is the writing. It was dramatic without being melodramatic and comedic without being cartoony. The whole story felt true to life and the dialogue and the interactions felt completely believable. The story is told with great pacing and pure, raw emotion. Even though this is a familiar story, it is executed with a lot of beauty, and enough twists and turns to make it hard to tell where it was going. It’s an excellent story, and the music that is performed between the story bits add a lot. All the music is written expertly and make the concert scenes even more gripping.
A Star is Born was an incredible film. It combines a great story with phenomenal performances, beautiful direction, and excellent music. All nitpicks I have about this film are so minute, they are not even worth mentioning and expounding upon. For example, some of the songs I am not a fan of. It’s not necessarily because they are bad, but because it’s not the type of music I like to listen to. That’s it. If you haven’t seen A Star is Born yet, do it. As of right now, it is my favorite movie of the year.
Score: 10/10 (Masterpiece)
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