Review: A Star is Born

Posted on 25 October, 2018

A musician helps a young singer find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral. IMDb

There have been other versions of this film – lots of others. However, none of them had Lady Gaga. I’ve always enjoyed her music but I have a whole new level of respect and admiration for her after seeing this movie. Wow, just wow.

She is the heart and soul of what is a big, rangy, loud, sexy, sad (actually heart wrenching) musical. And not to put too much emphasis on it (because I’m one of the many women who don’t wear makeup every day) but she performed most scenes barefaced. Meanwhile, Bradley Cooper had to get spray tanned daily and have stinging drops in his eyes for his hungover and addicted look.

Apparently, Cooper had to convince Gaga to take the role, but she should never have worried about her acting abilities, her Ally is brave and vulnerable. Both deeply in love and aware of how damaged her lover/husband is. In this, I prefer her ‘star’ to others (I’ve seen them all) because she is a woman of today. Able to defend herself, able to see his flaws and call him out on them but still able to surrender completely to the love of her life.

That Cooper chose to work with a story which has been told so many times before speaks to his brash confidence as a first time director. That it works so well speaks to his taking lessons from the best directors whilst acting, and his generosity as an actor, writer and filmmaker.

He has said in interviews that he tested each scene for ‘truth’, which is admirable. It almost always works, especially when discussing his father, using his own dog in filming, playing a guitar and both he and Gaga performing live. I refer to his generosity because he has given this film to Gaga. It could have been a male tour de force of a man bent on self-destruction but, just as his character is not jealous of his wife’s burgeoning career, he is not a jealous director and shoots scenes to get the most out of his co-star, putting her squarely in the limelight.

I said it ‘almost always worked’. The analogy that likens men wearing socks you can’t see to an addict still being an addict regardless of rehab bordered on turgid but there was much to admire. Cooper’s scenes with Sam Elliott are devastating and his relationship with Gaga is thrilling.

More importantly, there are few histrionics. James Mason munched the scenery when the studio made over Judy Garland in the second (no, third) version of this film. In this version, however, Cooper’s character, Jackson Maine, comments but leaves Ally to make her own decisions. That she gets momentarily caught up in the branding and packaging is true to the story but by the finale she is her own woman. No dialogue is required to emphasise her growth.

The music is also great value, with country, pop and even torch songs all performed well and, in the case of Maybe it’s Time and The Shallow, more than well. These are the songs that have haunted me since I saw the film.

Roslyn saw this film as a guest of Limelight Cinemas Tuggeranong.

Feature image: facebook.com/pg/StarIsBornMovie