A Star is Born

Directed by Bradley Cooper | Drama | 2h 14m

Hollywood meets Interscope in this rich 4th re-imagining of the original 1930s tale. Full to the brim with electricity and heart, A Star is Born features Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga in Cooper’s directorial debut. Gaga produces a powerfully raw and fun performance as Ally, an aspiring yet struggling musician picked up by Bradley Cooper’s character, Jackson Maine. Cooper’s Maine is both fragile and hard, a balance he finds at all the right times throughout the film.

In its original 1937 form, an alcoholic big time movie actor takes a struggling yet aspiring young actress under his wing. The archetypal romance mythesizes the rise of a young female star while her older, alcoholic lover falls from grace and eventually commits suicide to unburden her of his failings.

Every remake since the first has left its own mark on the story, but none have changed the signature Hollywood storyline of love and the tragic arch of stardom. This fourth telling almost leaves Hollywood behind in the midst of a collection of songs performed live and straight from the heart. During the first few minutes of the film, the combination of a real pop star in a movie about music created a strangely surreal discord between traditional cinema and concert. Wonderfully executed cinematography and Gaga’s skilled acting soon smoothed any tensions I had noticed.

The music is really the highlight of the film, carrying most of the emotional impact and dropping it at the perfect moments in every scene. Despite the focus on music, one can’t forget that this is still a Hollywood movie following a classical Hollywood narrative structure. What it lacks in innovative plot points, however, it makes up with everything else. Packaged with inspired performances, A Star is Born is a tried and true story framed beautifully by a strong soundtrack and engaged camera work.