A Star is Born is the directorial debut of Bradley Cooper and the third remake of the 1937 original of the same name. It stars Cooper and Lady Gaga as an alcoholic rock star and the bar singer he discovers and falls in love with, respectively. It’s a sordid tale of love, addiction, and fame updated for the modern era. Does Cooper’s first stint behind the camera prove successful? Is the chemistry between him and real-life popstar Gaga genuine and earned? Will it scoop up half a dozen Oscars next year as many are already predicting?
I had my share of trepidations going into this film. For one thing, it’s a remake of a remake of a remake, which doesn’t lend itself to the idea of a novel cinematic experience. It’s a musical, not my favorite genre by a long shot. And it stars Lady Gaga, which I assumed to be a blatant cash grab designed to get teen girls into seats. But all of these concerns were dissipated upon seeing the film, avoiding all of these pitfalls and delivering a strong singular experience. It doesn’t lean on Gaga’s star power, or hide behind musicality to mask poor writing (as The Greatest Showman did last year), or retread the same old story beats. Sure, it’s typical Hollywood fare with a semi-formulaic plot, but I don’t feel like I was cheated out of anything. I got my money’s worth and then some.
The screenplay was surprisingly strong. Dialogue felt natural and flowed very well. Cooper wisely keeps the tempo up so that conversations don’t drag or stagnate too quickly, and he doesn’t over-rely on shot/reverse-shot for these exchanges. That’s perhaps his greatest strength as a director: as an actor himself with theater training, he recognizes what a scene needs to keep moving along without losing the audience, and he found that balance perfectly. I felt like characters were actually speaking to each other rather than at each other, and emotions were thus well-earned. With that being said, the first half of the story was far stronger than the second in my opinion. The plot takes a few twists and turns that radically change the tone of the film, and that rapid-fire energy of the front end didn’t translate as well to the back end. That’s partially by design of course, without getting into spoiler territory too much, but it could have been a little tighter towards the end.
Each individual scene is well-constructed and shot. Cooper’s direction is good at making us feel emotions in the moment: fear, nervousness, elation, jealousy. At the end of the day, film is an experience, and regardless of writing or acting, the whole must make you feel something, which A Star is Born does very well. We really feel what it’s like to be on stage for the first time, or look deep into someone’s eyes and realize you love them, or glare at someone with the same burning hatred that the protagonist does. The problem comes more with the composite of each scene put together, because there are some tonal inconsistencies. Some moments feel rushed and could have used a couple more scenes to let the idea ruminate a bit, while others are drawn out way too long and start to drag the pacing. That’s the kind of thing that’s hard to pull off as a first-time director, but also one of the easier things to improve with multiple films, so I hope Cooper gets another chance at the helm to tighten up his pacing and scene fluidity.
Thematically, the film raises some interesting commentary on the state of the music industry and artistry in general. Cooper’s Jackson Maine represents the heart and soul of music, a true rock star who loves the music. Gaga’s Ally wants to see her name in lights, and is drawn into the factory-processed world of pop music. Much of the tension and conflict in the relationship comes from Jack’s concern that she loses her voice amidst a sea of cookie-cutter performers, while Ally believes that Jack is simply stubborn and refuses to accept the validity of different styles of music. The nature of fame is also explored as Jack is annoyed by the constant attention he receives while Ally (and her family) is enamored with the sudden interest in her life and the perks of celebrity. Overall I feel that the film does a good job of exploring both sides of the coin: the simple pleasures that come with the lifestyle of the rich and famous, but also the loss of identity that can come from such intense scrutiny.
The music and score was quite strong, as they should be for a musical. The original songs all played to Gaga’s singing strengths well, and “Shallow” is basically a shoo-in for Best Original Song at the Oscars next year. There are roughly 5-6 originals throughout the film, but some of them unfortunately sound a bit too similar to one another. Every song seems over-eager to display Gaga’s range and power in her vocals, which is fine, but it gets repetitive. No complaints about any of them individually, but as a whole there isn’t much diversity between them. Cooper’s singing was above-average, which is always a plus (I’m looking at you, Ryan Gosling), and I don’t know if he can actually play guitar that well or they just faked it, but either way it looked good. I also quite enjoyed some of the non-original choices for the soundtrack, like Beastie Boys’ “Make Some Noise” or LCD Soundsystem’s “New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down”. Whoever chose the soundtrack has excellent taste, and it fit the scenes well.
And of course, the acting must be talked about, because it is superb. Lady Gaga is excellent in her leading role, and I’m willing to call her the clear frontrunner for Best Actress right now (and I have the receipts to back up my claim). There is only one scene of her’s that I wasn’t a fan of towards the end of the film, where I feel her emotions didn’t match the gravity of what she was supposed to be reacting to. But that’s a failure on the director’s part if anything, so I’ll let it slide. Bradley Cooper is solid as well, but it feels like a character he’s played before multiple times. Yes, he does play a withdrawn alcoholic and his mannerisms reflect that, but he could have enunciated a bit more at times as his drunken scenes sometimes felt over-the-top. Sam Elliott isn’t in the film all that often, but whenever he pops up he steals the scene, playing off of Cooper brilliantly. Their dynamic was my favorite of the film, and I hope he’s rewarded with a Best Supporting Actor nod.
*The following section contains significant spoilers. Skip to the conclusion to avoid major plot points.*
I want to air out one major gripe with the very end of the film and the direction that Jack’s character went. The ending sees Jack commit suicide after becoming convinced that he is an embarrassment to Ally and a negative force on everyone around him. In a 2012 interview, one of the screenwriters of the original script claimed that Kurt Cobain was a major influence on the film’s plot, which makes some sense. Cobain himself was a tortured soul, uncomfortable with the spotlight and feeling like a burden on his family thanks to his vices. It’s abundantly clear to anyone familiar with Cobain’s life that his death was a result of his own inner demons rather than any external factors weighing on him, because he was clearly beloved by all. That is a sentiment echoed for any of the more recent celebrities to take their own life as well. Chris Cornell. Chester Bennington. Anthony Bourdain. Kate Spade. Sure, we’ll never know exactly what the precipitating factors were leading up to their final act, but we know that they had a strong support system behind them and no definitive cruel act committed against them that led them to the edge.
In that respect, I feel that A Star is Born is slightly disingenuous about the nature of suicide and drug addiction. In the film, it’s heavily implied that Jack is driven over the edge thanks to a bevy of factors: jealousy, regret, and the cold words from Ally’s manager, who insinuates that he is nothing but trouble for everyone. That reads as not only tone-deaf to me, but self-contradictory with the themes established earlier in the film. Ally spends much of the film trying to help Jack recover from his sickness – and she calls it just that, a disease. So for the final straw to be an external antagonist, and not an internal revelation of some sort, feels wrong. It might have been more impactful if he realized his own shortcomings himself, maybe by watching back the Grammies footage, but instead he’s told by everyone else in his life what a burden he is. It helps to paint him as a tragic figure and maintain audience sympathy with him, but hell if that isn’t a disingenuous depiction of what a selfish act suicide is and should be depicted as.
Also, bonus gripe: I knew how this film would end five minutes in, in the scene where Jack is in the car with his driver, because of a lingering shot with Jack framed in front of a billboard displaying a noose. C’mon, Bradley Cooper, that’s way too heavy-handed! I noticed some smaller bits of foreshadowing peppered throughout the film, much more subtle and clever in execution that aren’t quite so on-the-nose. Those are the kinds of details that are good for rewatches of the film to reward close attention to detail, but the effect is ruined if it’s way too obvious from the get-go. I had the same problem with Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals (2016), which was nearly a perfect movie if not for some way-too-obvious symbolism thrown in our face. Give the audience some more credit than that!
Conclusion
A Star is Born is a well-written, superbly-acted and scored, and competently-directed feature. My problems with the film didn’t dampen my enjoyment in the moment, and despite some heavy-handedness and predictability, I have no major complaints. It’s sure to be a crowd-pleaser, and those willing to turn their brains off will no doubt fall in love with the film and the characters within. For those like me who love to over-analyze everything, it will have some shortcomings, but even then I had a good enough time to recommend it.
VERDICT: B
-Austin Daniel
All image rights belong to Warner Bros. and MGM.
Stay tuned for more reviews in the near future! It’s a busy month for cinema, and I’ll be making many trips to the theaters. I actually saw this film as the second half of a double-feature after The Sisters Brothers, so expect that review in a couple days. Until then, thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out some of my other reviews and articles on the home page!
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