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A Star Is Born Movie Review

A Star Is Born is a 2018 romantic melodrama directed by Bradley Cooper and starring himself opposite Lady Gaga. It’s a familiar, but still very good, respectable version in its own right.

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“Maybe it’s time to let the old ways die“

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Yes, this is a remake of a remake of a remake meaning that it’s the fourth version of the original 1937 film. The only difference in terms of the storyline is that the action is moved from Hollywood to the music industry, everything else basically remained the same. And that’s my major gripe with this movie. It’s uninspired, cliched and overly familiar by this point.

The movie never really took any chances and risks with the material to its detriment, but above all else the biggest problem is that it never felt like a 2018 timely movie and thus it lost an argument that this story needed to be told again. The social networks and the overall internet culture and the 2010s pitfalls of being a celebrity are all sorely missing here and I was immensely disappointed how vague this movie is when it comes to its time period.

But still, the story worked for the most part. Yes, I am bashing it when it comes to storytelling, but even though that second half was overly slow and simply not exciting, the first half is actually excellent and even amazing in that thrilling first act. Yes, the romance itself worked splendidly as the actors share such obvious, awesome chemistry and the overall meet-up with the two, their first scenes together and their first singing together were just wonderful to witness, very energetic, sweet and playful. It’s a shame that the second half lost on that energy and sweetness, but at least it ended on a high note with that tragic, memorable last song sung by Lady Gaga.

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Speaking of her, yes, she absolutely killed it here. Bradley Cooper probably had a tougher role and he did give maybe his best performance yet in a film, but because I expected that from him and I didn’t expect great acting from Gaga, I personally gravitated more toward her performance and she literally stole the show here by literally becoming the titular star.

She’s very natural and never at all fake. She never stumbled and even stole her emotional, more difficult sequences. And I loved that her persona here is so much different than her real singing personality. That was a great choice. Cooper is also excellent and they are amazing together. Sam Elliot also gave a fantastic, very emotive, nuanced performance in a minor, but memorable role.

A Star Is Born isn’t a musical, but a drama about music and the industry. Still, it has quite a lot of songs and I personally found most of them solid, but somewhat forgettable and overly similar in sound and tune. The highlights are certainly I’ll Never Love Again which is actually quote moving and powerful as the film’s ending and of course Shallow is a scene-stealer as the most powerful, most memorable number in the film which has great lyrics, a fun tune to it and awesome singing from Lady Gaga.

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The direction from Bradley Cooper is very good for his first time and great even, but I did find the pacing problematic as the second half is simply overlong and slowly paced. Twenty or so minutes could have easily been cut here. But it’s so well shot with some very memorable shots and the sound is great.

A Star Is Born is definitely admirable for a third remake and a respectable film in its own right, but it’s still overly familiar in its storyline with not enough changes and it thoroughly needed a more modern approach in its plot. The second half is overlong and not as interesting, but the first half (the first act in particular) is actually superb with many memorable scenes, an infectious energy to it and a great romance with a terrific chemistry between the two leads. The songs aren’t particularly memorable except for terrific Shallows and Lady Gaga steals the show here with a powerful, very promising acting debut.