There are several reasons why I was less-than-enthusiastic about 2018's remake of A Star Is Born. For starters, it's a remake. Worsely, it's a remake of a movie starring Barbara Streisand. Ugh. What's worse still is that it's Bradley Cooper's debut directing gig; and, while I love his acting, actors-turned-directors aren't always a recipe for success. Just ask Joseph Gordon-Levitt, David Schwimmer, Kevin Bacon, Zach Braff, Eddie Murphy, Nicholas Cage...you get the point. But to be fair, Nicholas Cage is awful outside of anything that isn't Leaving Las Vegas. (Not that David Schwimmer is much better.) Regardless, I hope that now you understand how my skepticism was, I think, quite justified. Additionally, I thought there was no way it would be anything close to as good as its reviews say it is. Yet, lo and behold, I left that testosterone-free theater feeling welcomingly satisfied. But does that mean I was wrong?
During the first 45-ish minutes of the film, it appeared that, indeed, I was. The first act wasn't just good--it was actually pretty great. The stage was set brilliantly; and the story, tone, and characters were compelling and interesting. Additionally, one early song was quite lovely, both musically and directionally. Yes, during the first act, it appeared that everything was working just as it should. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper were particularly noteworthy from the get-go, and their chemistry was effortless and riveting.
Furthermore, Lady Gaga was an undeniable highlight throughout the entire film. A lot of her music doesn't always land with me, but her voice is simply phenomenal. All of her songs in A Star Is Born are just gorgeous. And to my surprise, her acting actually kept up quite nicely--who would've thought? And I've always loved Bradley Cooper. There's not a genre in which I've seen him fail, and his role in A Star Is Born is no different. However, even though his acting was great, his delivery was a bit obscure, and not necessarily in a good way. I'm not sure how he settled on most of his deliveries, but it sounded like he was trying to do a muted version of Christian Bale's Batman voice while gargling gravel. His singing wasn't this way, but his dialogue was. It didn't happen every line, but apparently it happened enough for me to notice.
As I mentioned earlier, several songs were performed and directed quite well. I'm usually not a fan of movie musicals, but this proved to be an exception. I think this was because the musical numbers were used as a plot device rather than a driving force for the narrative. Don't get me wrong--both elements were accomplished through song, but the story wasn't nearly as reliant on musical numbers as, say, La La Land. The music in A Star Is Born is meant to display character emotion and tonal shift--which is something music in all movies does (or at least should do). The obvious difference, of course, is the incorporation of performance. Whether that made sense, I'm not sure, but it worked wonderfully nonetheless.
Unfortunately, the quality of the first 45 minutes was not maintained throughout the film. After that point, it began to lose its footing. The first act focuses on Ally's (Lady Gaga) and Jack's (Bradley Cooper) relationship, and the effect it has on their paths. The second act focused on the story primarily from Ally's perspective and her rise to stardom. The end of the second act (and most of the third) shifted back to Jack's perspective, and Ally was all-but-forgotten. This led the narrative to feel very haphazard and unsatisfying. I would have loved if the dichotomy of their lives had been fluid throughout the film's entirety and if their changing paths had been juxtaposed. However, instead, what we got felt like different episodes of the same TV series jammed together, which was unbalanced both tonally and structurally.
This became most contentious when the film came to its climax. Now, I loved how it ended. It wasn't as good as La La Land, but it was still great. The only problem is that the payoff of the end was criminally unearned. It felt unexpected--which is good--but it was unexpected in the wrong way. Taking the last few scenes at face-value, they were terrific. However, when coupled with the several scenes that preceded them, they became less so. It almost felt like the final scene came from a cut that wasn't from the same movie. Despite this, however, my row of seats in the theater surrounded me with blubbering women, so obviously it worked for some people.
Thematically speaking, A Star Is Born is somewhat of a buffet. There are several excellent takeaways, but you can't obtain a full meal of any particular few. It's fine for movies to have multiple themes, but A Star Is Born contains so many heavy topics that a mere taste of them didn't serve them justice. The consequences of Jack's alcoholism is the primary theme (that's not a spoiler, it's literally found in the online synopsis)--which was handled brilliantly--but several others just felt..."there." The elements were there, but their satisfaction left something to be desired.
As I mentioned, I'm very skeptical about actors-turned-directors. All things considered, Bradley Cooper did...all right. Like I said, several song sequences were directed quite well, and he definitely displayed sporadic elements of talent. Unfortunately, most of the directing of A Star Is Born is quite sloppy. What's worse is that it becomes noticeably lazy. Nearly every scene of dialogue (and musical segments to boot) is shot with extreme close-ups, meaning that the faces of the actors take up nearly the entire screen. Granted, this is a very useful and effective technique to display increased tension, drama, or emotion. But when it is used in every scene it loses its uniquely dramatic effect, which makes viewers like me particularly sad.
While several of those points may seem harsh, the fact remains that A Star Is Born is a very good movie. Even though I expected otherwise, I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't impressed. I mean, it's still no La La Land, but it's quite solid.
Congratulations, Bradley Cooper. With the help of Lady Gaga (and lots of it), you've directed your way to 79%. You started off on a high note; indeed, even one that sounds
Theater Worthy
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