Directed by:
Bradley CooperCinematography:
Matthew LibatiqueCast:
Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Sam Elliott, Andrew Dice Clay, Rafi Gavron, Anthony Ramos, Dave Chappelle, Alec Baldwin, Ron Rifkin, Michael Harney (more)VOD (5)
Plots(1)
Raw and passionate tale of Jack and Ally, two artistic souls coming together, on stage and in life. Cooper portrays seasoned musician Jackson Maine, who discovers and falls in love with struggling artist Ally. She has given up on her dream to become a successful singer, until she meets Jack, who immediately sees her natural talent. (Warner Bros. UK)
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Reviews (15)
A romantic flick for the ladies, A Star Is Born is directed and acted with heart, but lacks a single motif,
relationship or storyline that we haven’t seen hundreds of times elsewhere and that would make it
stand out. Only Cooper’s acting performance is excellent. And Gaga is very solid for a non-actress.
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I have probably seen too many of these music dramas already, since I cannot give this movie five stars. However, I completely understand why the overall score is so high. It has quite a few surprises up its sleeve. Only, the whole time I was waiting for the finale and it didn’t manage to shock me as much as I’d wished. The first surprise was Bradley Cooper. Who would have thought that a comedy actor who became famous with the Hangover trilogy will eventually star in such a romantic epic and in addition will show everyone that he can sing and write pretty solid Southern rock? Well, another surprise was, of course, Lady Gaga. I accept her music, I respect her as a pop star, and I acknowledge that her pop music is original. Acting-wise, she wiped the floor with the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, who were recently laughing at her at the Golden Globe awards. Hats off. A regular girl, who worked as a waitress, turned into a world-class star. Some of the movie scenes are literally legendary. It’s a shame, then, that the finale wasn’t as epic. Other than that, I must add that if you like music and follow the behind the scenes, you’ll be able to find a whole array of seemingly inconspicuous moments, which will however say a lot about the given scene. That’s what I really liked about it. After viewing I debated, pondered, and debated once again. Bradley and Lady Gaga blowed that cinematic universe into such dimmensions as if they were real music stars. Beautiful.
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The story may be all cliche, but if it captivates me so much, should I mind? Why would I? A Star Is Born is a great film with great performances (excellent actor Bradley Cooper sings excellently and excellent singer Lady Gaga acts excellently), shot with a familiar sure hand (perhaps producer Clint Eastwood gave a bit of advice?) and with a great soundtrack composed from original songs, each of which could be a hit. I'm just happy enough to give it five stars.
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Surprisingly mature filmmaking. Bradley Cooper manages to sell both the big concert scenes and the small intimate ones where two people talk with complete ease. He gives quite possibly the best performance of his career, and Lady Gaga definitely deserves all the awards she picks up. Even the songs can move or tear you up and it's awfully good to watch. The only major complaint might be a certain predictability and schematicism, but on the other hand, in this case it would be unfair to the film to criticize it. This is exactly what it promised and delivered and in a highly superior performance. A film that is honest, functional and superbly shot and acted, and moving.
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The beginning is awesome, the kind of hit parade that Bradley Cooper "the rockstar" sets off in front of packed stands is a cinematic opening that's unmatched by the best ever in filmmaking. It's lively, personal, authentic and with incredible energy. Actually, the whole first half of the film could be characterised in a similar way, because even in the intimate passages it doesn't lose its sparkle and fantastic atmosphere, let alone the performances of the leading duo. A film with a heavy dose of music, which paradoxically often goes sensationally acapella, because when the two main characters interact you feel that you only perceive their voices and otherwise there is silence, nothing else around. That’s to be expected with Cooper, because he's talented, and when a director tells him he'll have to learn a booming rock baritone, he will. But Lady Gaga, a non-actress, delivers a first-rate acting and emotional performance, if she does get the Oscar, nobody will be surprised. Unfortunately, the bar set by the first half does not last into the second half. The final transformation doesn't have enough pull and it's just too much to take in. Rather, it seems to me that Cooper and Libatique are subtly chasing awards with it, but it has a rather digressive effect on the viewer. It's still damn good filmmaking, though, spontaneous, full of energy and fantastic songs and performances, but it's a bit short of a full score.
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