A Star Is Born (2018)

• Year: 2018
• Released: 05 Oct 2018
• Country: United States
• Adwords: Won 1 Oscar. 95 wins & 280 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1517451/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/a_star_is_born
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/a-star-is-born
• Available in: 720p, 1080p, 720p
• Language: English, French
• MPA Rating: R
• Genre: Drama, Music, Romance
• Runtime: 136 min
• Writer: Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper, Will Fetters
• Director: Bradley Cooper
• Cast: Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Sam Elliott
• Keywords: remake, singer, alcoholic, alcoholism, concert,

	7.6/10
	88/100
	90% – Critics
	79% – Audience

A Star Is Born Storyline

Jackson Maine, a famous country music singer privately battling an alcohol and drug addiction, plays a concert in California. His main support is Bobby, his manager and older half-brother. After the show, Jackson visits a drag bar where he witnesses a performance by Ally, a waitress and singer-songwriter. Jackson is amazed by her performance, and they spend the night speaking to each other, where Ally discloses to him the troubles she has faced in pursuing a professional music career. Jackson invites Ally to his next show. Despite her initial refusal she attends and, with Jackson’s encouragement, sings on stage with him. Jackson invites Ally to go on tour with him, and they form a romantic relationship. In Arizona, Ally and Jackson visit the ranch where Jackson grew up and where his father is buried, only to discover that Bobby sold the land. Angered at his betrayal, Jackson punches Bobby, who subsequently quits as his manager. Before doing so, Bobby reveals that he did inform Jackson about the sale, but the latter was too inebriated to notice.

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A Star Is Born Movie Reviews

A Star is BORED

I am more than just a bit surprised how many of the IMDB reviews just glow about this remake, of another remake, of another remake of yet still another remake. In case some people don’t realize it, this film has been over cooked since the 1930’s.

Maybe women love Bradley Cooper so this is his vanity project in which he is credited as the writer, director, and star. Heck, Bradley Cooper even went as far as having a Sam Elliott voice over by copying Elliott’s gravelly voice and Mr. Vanity (Cooper) even gives himself several minutes of solo face time singing as a past-his-prime-time weary weathered alcoholic singing star.

Oh sure, Cooper pulled out as many pity points that he possibly could by including his loyal dog pining for our over the hill rock star. While Jack hides behind his closed garage door his dog rests in front of the door resting alone and waiting for his master Jack to come out from behind the closed garage door. Awwwwww shucks. Cooper’s screenplay denotes “sappy sucker tears called for here”.

I wish Hollywood would welcome some fresh new screenwriters blood with some really creative ideas for screenplays rather than just use bonafide stars to re-write old screenplays and re-hash old movies and expect us avid filmgoers who enjoy going to actual movie theaters to suck the old crap up again and again.

I bet that more than half the people who wrote a praiseworthy IMDB review in 2018 for this film won’t even remember who starred in this 5th version of A Star Is Born because it is simply not a memorable film, nor is it worthy of the bloated high praise it has been garnering. In reference to the great P.T. Barnum “There’s a Sucker Born Every Minute”…don’t be the next one. Pass on this overrated remake.

Starts in exhilarating fashion, although loses steam

It’s a story as old as time, and that’s evident in the fact that Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born is the fourth (yes, FOURTH) remake of the movie classic. However, with clearly passionate directing and acting throughout, furthered by wonderful music and an efficient portrayal of the classic rags-to-riches story, this proves a thoroughly entertaining and memorable watch that absolutely flies by over the course of nearly two and a half hours.

But before we get into all that, I have to start with the film’s opening half hour, which is exceptional. Despite its long running time, there’s so much packed into the opening act, and it’s delivered with jaw-dropping passion and energy, to the point where I felt absolutely exhilarated by the film within such a short period of time.

The passion with which Bradley Cooper is directing the movie is clear from the opening scene, and as we see our superstar musician form an unlikely and unexpected bond with a young local singer, the film begins to tell that age-old story about finding fame in beautiful and riveting fashion.

In fact, in the knowledge that it’s a story that you know like the back of your hand, Cooper ingeniously ramps the dial up to eleven as we watch our young up-and-coming star caught up in an exhilarating whirlwind as she is suddenly transported from a small waitressing job to singing in front of thousands, culminating in a stunningly moving musical sequence that feels like a true epiphany, as you watch this young woman overwhelmed as she gets her first taste of stardom, something that I was absolutely blown away by.

That opening half hour is truly exceptional. Full of emotion, drama and moving at a pace that mirrors the dramatic transformation from ordinary singer to superstar, it’s exhilarating to watch at every moment, and easily the best opening act I’ve seen from a film this year, setting up the rest of the film fantastically.

Rather unfortunately, however, things don’t quite pan out in the same stunning fashion through the rest of the movie. While the remained of A Star Is Born is still good, I was left feeling a little disappointed that it couldn’t keep up that same exhilarating energy and emotion from the first act, as things quieten down and become a little more predictable.

Of course, there’s nobody who doesn’t know this story, so being predictable isn’t as much of a problem, but what I found frustrating about the film was how it failed to keep delving deeper into the lives of the lead characters as their careers start flying in completely opposing directions.

As a director, Cooper did an incredible job with the opening half hour, and his passion for the subject matter remains strong throughout, but the problem comes in the way that he portrays the main points of this age-old story in a rather plain fashion, moving a little too readily onto each new stage in the two singers’ careers without leaving enough time for things to settle.

In that, the film has a good pace to it that makes it a thoroughly entertaining watch right to the end, but with the exception of the opening act and the finale, there just isn’t enough depth to the individuals here, leaving me a little detached from their emotions throughout the middle portion, and having to rely on my knowledge of the classic rags-to-riches story to understand more about what they were feeling.

So, a little bit more clarity and patience would have gone a long way here, and I would have been genuinely happy to watch another half hour or so of the film.

While the second two-thirds of the movie aren’t so profoundly moving, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to praise, because along with Cooper’s passionate directing, we see two fantastic performances from the director himself as well as Lady Gaga.

Starting off with Bradley Cooper, his portrayal of an aging and fading star is thoroughly fascinating to watch. While he doesn’t appear as the story’s main focus, the quality of his performance is such that I was at times even more invested in his character than the rise of the starlet, as he pulls off the maturity and likability of his battle-hardened character while still putting in a powerful portrayal of his deeper weaknesses, something that makes him both delightfully appealing and still deeply interesting to follow throughout.

Alongside Cooper is Gaga, who is a real revelation here. Given that she’s never been in a role of this magnitude before, her acting ability is truly stunning, and she gives a performance that’s just as profound and striking as any experienced A-list actress. Taking from her own experience of life in the music business and her rise to stardom in real life, the passion that she feels for her character is clear in every scene, with that previously mentioned epiphany-inducing musical number ‘Shallow’ featuring the best example of her incredible acting.

She holds fantastic chemistry with Cooper, and the two make their characters’ relationship both convincing and genuinely appealing, even through the inevitable ups and downs of the story, keeping your interest strong as the film moves through the story towards the finish.

In the end, I was very impressed with A Star Is Born. It’s unfortunately not pitch-perfect all the way through, but after a mind-blowing opening act, and featuring passionate and likable directing and performances throughout, it proves a massively entertaining watch regardless, with some excellent music to boot.

A lot of folks simply need to see earlier versions of this story.

After the 2018 remake of “A Star is Born”, I heard a bazillion different people talk on and on and on about how amazing this film was. However, after seeing it, I realize that none of these folks saw the earlier (and much better) versions of the film…such as “What Price Hollywood?” or the 1930s and 50s version of “A Star is Born”. All three* are vastly superior and I think most of it is because they come off as more a fairy tale–a nice tale about success and failure. In the newest version, however, the story seems more real…and more pathetic and difficult to watch as a result.

Overall, I challenge you to watch an earlier version and then you’ll realize that aside from hearing Lady Gaga sing a few nice tunes, there really isn’t any improvement on the original story in this remake.

*There also was a version with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson–which I have not seen, so I cannot compare it to the others.