A Star Is Born 2018
I have never seen Judy Garland’s A Star Is Born (though I recorded it off of PBS and want to watch eventually, moreso now) and certainly didn’t see the Barbra Streisand version, so when I found out a Lady Gaga version was coming out, I wasn’t that interested. But it is getting surprisingly good reviews and my brother’s family was going on opening weekend, so I thought it would be a good bet. I don’t really follow Lady Gaga, though I know a few of her songs, nor do I watch singing contest shows like American Idol so I feel like I am probably not the right audience for this movie.
However, I still enjoyed seeing Bradley Cooper’s rock star character meet this unknown, played by Lady Gaga, who you know has lived through this in real life, and how music gives them a connection that they build on, with some good new songs. Although it is easy to see Bradley Cooper trying to channel Jeff Bridges from Crazy Heart (or Kris Kristofferson), I thought maybe the movie would be more like Once. But it isn’t really about writing songs and after that first flurry of them, there aren’t that many later. I enjoyed that first part, but the second part is more about the relationship between the two as Lady Gaga’s character becomes more popular and Bradley Cooper’s character struggles with addiction. To me that story wasn’t as interesting and maybe not even that believable since he was addicted before they met and he was playing to stadium crowds. This being the fourth version of this movie, maybe there isn’t a lot new to say. And the movie takes some clunky turns and features what felt like some improvised dialogue, particularly one argument, that made me think that Cooper, as the director, was letting the actors go a little too much. Still good, I think, but the heavier second half suffers and seems a little forced. Lady Gaga does a good job in what I think must be her first big movie role and Cooper is generally reliable, but he isn’t quite Jeff Bridges. And at 43, he is much less grizzled than Bridges who was 60 when he made Crazy Heart, and the age difference between Cooper’s character and his older brother, played by Sam Elliott is 30 years, which feels very off, even though Elliott is always reliable (and I think Cooper is playing older than his real age here). Still, a good movie with a great first 30 minutes to pull you in and that’s enough to keep you around to see how it turns out.
Written: 06 Oct 2018
Owned on: Blu-ray, Digital