I'm reviewing the 2018 Drama / Romance film , A Star is Born, directed by Bradley Cooper, and stars Cooper, Lady Gaga, and Sam Elliott. When big-time musician Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) discovers and falls in love with struggling artist Ally (Lady Gaga), Jackson decides to help coax her into the spotlight to fulfill her dreams. Soon as Ally's career takes off, the personal side of their relationship starts to fall apart as Jackson fights an ongoing battle with drug and alcohol addiction. I haven't seen the original or the other three remakes that followed throughout the years, so I can't make any comparisons. I thought this film was fantastic.
Pros: This film was perfectly casted. While not my favorite film in Bradley Cooper's filmography, I thought his performance in this movie was definitely Oscar-worthy. I give him a lot of credit for this being his directorial debut. Not many stars out there can make such a great film on their first go-round. Fun fact: this film was actually supposed to be directed by Clint Eastwood, but he turned it down for another project and hired good-friend Bradley Cooper to take over, which I thought was a smart idea. Don't get me wrong, I love Clint Eastwood, but I don't think this was his type of style anyways.
Lady Gaga nails her performance to perfection. In fact, I don't think anyone in Hollywood could have played that part any better than her. I would like to see her in more roles because she really has acting talent.
The music was pretty good too. I really got into the subplot of Bradley Cooper's character struggling with his dark past and current addictions. Some could relate to that on a personal level; though, some could argue that it feels like watching Joaquin Phoenix's Johnny Cash character in Walk the Line. Both are great films, but I prefer Walk the Line more.
This film is very emotional, especially with scenes of Bradley Cooper's character getting worse with his addictions, his failing relationship with Lady Gaga's character, the bitter relationship with his older brother played by the great Sam Elliott, and that emotional ending! I'm not gonna spoil the ending, but its pretty sad, especially for those whom feel close to home. Cons: I wouldn't necessarily say I've got any major problems, but call it a small knit-pick: the second half of the story seems to move at an much faster pace. The editing is very jumpy at times. The scene where her talents are officially discovered by another major record manager, suddenly she's hosting SNL and winning Grammy's in the next scene came rather fast without much buildup . Other than that, I have no other issues with this film. I highly recommend it. I hope to see it mentioned in the upcoming Oscar nominations.
Final Grade:
What were your thoughts on this film? leave me a comment below and I'll see you in my next review.