REVIEW: "A Star Is Born" gives new life to an old tale
Courtesy of Preston Steger, Social Media Manager
Disclaimer: “A Star Is Born” is an R-rated film. It features strong language and some sexuality/nudity as well as substance abuse. If these are things that you wish to avoid seeing represented in film, then this film is not recommended for you.
A Star Is Born…Again
“A Star Is Born” (2018) is the classic story of a young talent’s rise to fame, an aging star’s fall from grace and the passionate romance that they share. This is not new ground being covered, however. In fact, it is the fourth version of this exact story, previous iterations having come out in 1937, 1954 and 1976 all under the same name.
What about this story deserves to be told so many different times? It’s a timeless tale—but one that changes with the times. The ’37 original follows a farm girl aspiring to be an actress in “the pictures.” The ’54 version emphasized the musical extravaganzas popular at the time. In ’76, the focus shifted to music performance rather than acting, which was carried through to the 2018 version. The difference between these two most recent renditions is just how much society has evolved in the last 42 years.
The many versions of this story uniquely represent how much times have changed, but more importantly, they also highlight how much they've stayed the same. And this, I believe, is the value in telling this story time and time again.
Far From Shallow
This latest version of “A Star Is Born” follows Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper), a seasoned Arizona rock star struggling with alcoholism and addiction, who discovers talented singer Ally (Lady Gaga) and brings her into the public spotlight. The two fall in love, but their relationship encounters difficulties as their paths go in different directions.
“A Star Is Born” serves as Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut, and he delivers a tremendous film. He clearly had a vision for this film, serving as screenwriter and producer on top of directing and starring in the film. As Jackson Maine, Jack for short, Cooper delivers perhaps his best performance. He wears all of his pain and struggle on his sleeve while burying his sadness in stories and songs. His rustic, rock’n’roll swagger and charm, mixed with his steady decline into drugs and alcoholism, is simultaneously compelling and hard to watch.
Lady Gaga stars as Ally, the titular “star” who is born. Gaga makes it clear very quickly that she was not just cast for her star power or vocal ability (although that is, of course, a big part of it). She is more toned down than ever before and strikes an appropriate balance of uncertainty and confidence that characterizes her sudden rise to fame. It’s established early on that she’s got a lot of verve and isn’t afraid to stand up for herself. Gaga sells it by being, well, a surprisingly good actress.
Also, Sam Elliott as Jack’s much older brother is a standout. There’s a single look he gives at one point in the movie that alone is worth an Oscar nomination when the time comes.
Get a Little Perspective
As much as I’d like it to be, the movie isn’t flawless. As the film goes on, it reveals itself to be primarily focused on Jack’s perspective, which would be a fine choice if only it didn’t come at the cost of losing much of Ally’s arc. The beginnings of Jack and Ally’s relationship plays pretty evenhandedly, but once Ally really begins her rise, it's fast—even for a movie highlighting how fast it can happen.
From that point on, we never really get to understand Ally’s motivations. She goes from one scene, saying she won’t dye her hair because she wants to be herself, to the next scene, where she sports dyed hair and performs trashy pop songs that go against what she was saying before. There’s no progression to the evolution she undergoes, and it changes so quickly that it’s hard to know how to feel about it.
This change in perspective is possibly done very intentionally to reflect how sudden it all feels to the oft inebriated Jack. In that respect, it works quite well. We get a full picture of how her evolution makes him feel, and watching his decline is effectively wrenching. I just wish the film would have given the same depth and understanding to her rise as it does to his fall. It’s called “A Star Is Born”after all.
Music to My Ears
It would be an incredible disservice to the film to not talk about the music. It’s fantastic to say the least. Lady Gaga has, of course, shown her immense talent on many occasions. That talent is necessary as it's the driving force behind the bulk of this film, so it’s no surprise to see her dominate the screen with her musical performances. Where I’m most impressed is with Bradley Cooper’s surprising turn as a musical performer. He perfectly captures that gravelly Arizona rock sound that immediately sells you on the character he’s portraying.
Even more impressively is how they filmed the performances live, which both shows off their talent as musicians as well as their ability to perform a scene in that high-pressure situation. Cooper even learned to play guitar for this film.
The songs themselves are excellent too, except for when they’re not supposed to be. On top of performing, Cooper and Gaga also wrote the songs their characters perform throughout the film. While this technically doesn’t add anything to the quality of the film, I appreciate the authentic approach they took to all aspects of the music, and it comes through in a big way.
Also, "Shallow" for best original song. That is all.
Same Twelve Notes
With relatively few missteps, Bradley Cooper has made a modern classic out of an old classic. His directorial debut is refreshingly heartfelt as he tells a story that allows his strong cast room to shine. It’s a story based in love that doesn’t shy away from the tough side of relationships and highlights the struggles of addiction.
“A Star Is Born” is the kind of story that doesn’t leave much room for change, but that’s because the story is so effective and the themes of fame, self-care, happiness and sacrificial love still apply just as powerfully today. It’s not a story that needs to be remade, but it's one that deserves to be.
I think the movie itself says it best:
“Music is essentially twelve notes between any octave—twelve notes and the octave repeats. It’s the same story, told over and over forever. All that the artist can offer the world is how they see those twelve notes. That’s it.”
I like the way it sees those notes.
Rated R for language throughout, some sexuality/nudity and substance abuse
Runtime: 2hr 16min
