A Star is Born review

A STAR IS BORN:

BRADLEY COOPER AND LADY GAGA KEEP THE TUNES AND TEARS COMING!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

WARNER BROS. PICTURES AND MGM

Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga in A Star is Born

            Bradley Cooper (The Hangover trilogy, American Hustle, Guardians of the Galaxy) and Lady Gaga sing their way to stardom in the third film adaptation of the 1937 classic, A Star is Born. It’s probably the only movie where every time the story is retold, it’s always welcome by the public, you have the original film which starred Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, the 1954 adaptation starring Judy Garland and James Mason, and the 1976 version with Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, most of which were critically and commercially successful.

            A modern telling of the story was in talks since 2011 and the production went through development hell, Clint Eastwood was originally attached to direct and Beyoncé was set to star. Various actors approached to co-star in the film including Christian Bale, Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Smith, and Tom Cruise which resulted in several delays of the project and Eastwood and Beyoncé dropped out.

            It wasn’t until 2016 when Cooper got a hold of the movie and signed on to star and direct the new adaptation, where the film’s development gained serious momentum. Lady Gaga was brought onboard and Todd Phillips (Road Trip, The Hangover trilogy, War Dogs), who previously directed Cooper in The Hangover trilogy, was attached to produce.

            This new version of A Star is Born had a lot to live up to, would it be as good as its predecessors or would it fall flat like a lot of Hollywood remakes these days. Well, the day finally came, and I gave it a watch, I can gladly say this is a remake done right in just about every way.

            Bradley Cooper knocks it out of the park in both acting and directing, this marks his directorial debut and now I’m convinced that he can do no wrong. He and the film itself understand and respect the source material and gives it a modern retelling with changes added in all the right places.

            The film follows seasoned musician, Jackson Maine (Cooper) who performs sold-out concerts while exhibiting a drinking problem which he hides from the public. One night after a show Jackson visits a bar to drink, while there he comes across a struggling young singer-songwriter named Ally (Gaga) and after listening to her perform onstage, begins to fall in love with her.

            Jackson invites Ally to one of his gigs where he requests that she performs with him, and after some hesitation she performs and is praised on social media. The two of them perform together at several concerts and slowly begin to form a relationship.

            But even as Ally’s career starts taking off and resulting in a Grammy nomination, the personal side of their relationship starts breaking down as Jackson fights an ongoing battle with alcoholism and drug addictions.

            The film also stars Sam Elliott (The Big Lebowski, Gettysburg, Tombstone) as Jackson’s brother and manager, Bobby Maine, Dave Chappelle (Robin Hood: Men in Tights, The Nutty Professor (1996), Chappelle’s Show) as George “Noodles” Stone, Andrew Dice Clay (Crime Story, Entourage, Tosh.0) as Ally’s father, Lorenzo, Anthony Ramos (Hamilton, She’s Gotta Have It, Godzilla: King of the Monsters) as Ally’s friend, Ramon, Michael Harney (Erin Brockovich, Ocean’s Thirteen, Orange is the New Black) as Wolfie, and Rafi Gavron (Breaking and Entering, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Life Unexpected) as Ally’s manager and music producer, Rez.

            Overall, A Star is Born is a beautiful and poignant emotional experience and a rare remake that stands just as tall as a standalone movie. Even if you’ve never seen the other versions I can still recommend it on its own, you’re getting some powerhouse performances by its leads, a great soundtrack, and a story that hits you right in the feels.

            This alongside the 2010 Coen Brothers remake of True Grit, does everything a remake should do, understand and respect the original film while still giving something different or a new perspective on the story we’ve already heard. In the original movie it’s an aspiring actress and a down-on-his-luck movie star, the 1954 version it’s a singer falling in love with an actor, and the 1976 version as well as this one it’s an alcoholic rock star and a singer with name changes and some modern touches that never feel forced.

            So, out of the adaptations that came before I’d say it’s closest to the 1976 version in terms of story and characters. In my opinion, this one surpasses the 1976 film and on par with the 1937 and 1954 versions, it’s hard to compare them because they’re all similar and different from each other at the same time.

            The performances by the film’s leads are phenomenal, I’ve already seen Bradley Cooper show his serious side in films like Limitless and American Sniper, but as an alcoholic rock star he nails it perfectly and every time he slurs his words and mumbles it feels eerily convincing. However, Lady Gaga steals the show, singers who try to make the transition to acting usually achieves mixed results, but she sells every moment of the film and you just want to stand and cheer at the end of her songs.

            There are some minor nitpicks I have regarding the film, it is a little long and clocks in at a 2-hour and 17-minute runtime, and there are some scenes that go on for a while that I felt could have been trimmed down. But, it was never to the point where it got boring, my eyes were glued to the screen from the beginning all the way to its closing credits.

            A Star is Born is a third remake done right and an outstanding directorial debut for Bradley Cooper. With the right amount of changes and tweaks, charming leads, and great music, it stands as one of the best remakes of the original film, and it probably won’t be the last.