A Star is Born is not a film to be taken on lightly. This is, after all, the fourth version of the tale to make it to screens, with 1954’s Judy Garland-starring musical looming largest in viewer’s minds. Add to that the baggage that comes with wrangling a film that’s languished in development hell for almost a decade, and it becomes an almighty challenge for Bradley Cooper to tackle for his directorial debut. But while most remakes are greeted with a chorus of ‘why?’, 2018’s A Star is Born more than lives up to its name, capturing the soul and spirit of its predecessors, while packing an authentic, heartfelt punch all of its own.
Alongside his assured direction, Cooper stars as country star Jackson Maine. Though he still packs out stadiums across the country, you can instantly feel that he is no longer at his best as we witness him popping pills backstage and necking bottles of gin in the back of his limo. Cooper is almost unrecognisable, yet utterly convincing as Jackson, his swollen, bloodshot eyes and gravelly voice betraying a man barely holding himself together as his personal demons take hold.
Hope arrives in the form of Lady Gaga’s Ally, whom he meets performing ‘La Vie En Rose’ in a drag queen bar. Like Jackson, we’re immediately captivated by Gaga’s beautifully vulnerable performance. Beneath her bolshiness and cynicism, Ally is an insecure woman bruised by previous rejections and comments by industry men more interested in her looks than her obvious talent. As she goes from overwhelmed and hopeful to confident and assured, Gaga never looses sight of Ally’s tender heart, playing her rise with a lightness of touch that belies her own on stage persona.
Cooper and Gaga are electrifying as a couple – particular during the film’s blistering, palpably authentic musical numbers – and they’re chemistry is undercut with sadness as their changing fortunes drive them a part. While Ally lands a record deal and finds herself plastered across billboards, Jackson falls further down the throat of a bottle. It’s in Jackson’s decline that Cooper steals the show from his co-star, putting in an astonishing performance as a man fractured by the death of his mother, the addiction of his father and crippling tinnitus, leaving him totally ill-equipped to save himself.
A Star is Born is certainly not perfect. The pacing is a little off and it’s in need of a sharper edit, particularly during a baggy second act. Yet, it’s undoubtedly an outstanding achievement for Cooper, who delivers a fresh, dynamic, and bittersweet, take on the material. And when the final emotional punch is thrown, there won’t be a dry eye in the house.
Runtime: 135 mins (approx.)
Director: Bradley Cooper
Screenwriters: Bradley Cooper, Will Fetters, Eric Roth
Stars: Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Sam Elliott, Rafi Gavron
Screen Radar 