A STAR IS BORN: A Technically Well-Crafted Look at a Bittersweet True Love Story and the State of Modern-Day Music Industry

Genre: Drama, Romance, Musical

Produced by: Bill Gerber, Jon Peters, Bradley Cooper, Lynette Howell Taylor, Todd Phillips

Directed by: Bradley Cooper

Written by: Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper, Will Fetters

Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Sam Elliott, Dave Chappelle, Andrew Dice Clay 

Runtime: 134 minutes            

SYNOPSIS: 

Seasoned musician Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) rediscovers his passion for music when he encounters struggling musician Ally (Lady Gaga). Sooner than later, what begins as a professional, musician-to-musician relationship between them blossoms into something much more special. But as they begin to learn the truth about the music industry, the more fame or lack of that comes their way, the more it threatens to tear them apart. 

REVIEW: 

A Star is Born is somewhat the quintessential brand when it comes to love stories set in the entertainment industry. Obviously, by now, there’s been over hundreds to thousands of titles which have reused and recycled the same aforementioned premise, rendering Bradley Cooper’s A Star is Born (by the way, its fourth iteration since the 1937 original) into a copy of a copy. But the fact that many Hollywood execs keep on coming back to A Star is Born rather than make something original proves that it remains the most reliable title for the “showbiz romance” genre. 

Still, ever since news broke of another A Star is Born remake back in 2011, the project had some difficulty to finally get off the ground.  Like a game of musical chairs (no pun intended), many big names came and went. At certain points in its development, it had the likes of Beyonce, Clint Eastwood, Johnny Depp and even Tom Cruise, just to name a few, attached in directing and starring roles. 

After such a long, protracted process, the search ends with Bradley Cooper, who takes on the double duty of not just playing the male lead onscreen, but also behind the scene for his directorial debut. But probably its biggest news, following the previous remakes’ tradition of casting musically-inclined actresses like Judy Garland and Barbara Streisand, is the casting of best-selling pop star Lady Gaga, who here makes her acting debut, in the female lead role. For every Jennifer Hudson, there is always a Mariah Carey, and in a way, the casting of a proven musician, yet unproven actress in Lady Gaga represents a bit of a hit-or-miss approach in spite of the strong marketing potential. 

Like in the 1954 and 1976 musical remakes, 2018’s A Star is Born uses the modern-day music industry as the setting for its showbiz romance. In terms of the music, with a musical influence like Lady Gaga in the mix, it is not surprising to say that 2018’s A Star is Born boasts such a terrific soundtrack. And perhaps what makes A Star is Born stand out over other modern-day film soundtrack of its nature is its willingness to play with different genres. Listening to A Star is Born’s music almost feels like listening to a semi-compilation album, where twangy guitar-driven country tracks, jazzy tunes, impassioned ballads or conveyor belt pop of the early Lady Gaga years exist within the same universe. 

Despite the weird mishmash of genres, somehow lyrically, each and every track forms a coherent story. Like any film with music as the main subject in it, A Star is Born relies on music for characters to express themselves on a much deeper level.  Every composition here, down to the current-era pop tracks, has a more personal meaning to it. It allows us to get into the head of the two lead characters, picture and understand the things that they’re dealing with through various stages of their lives, which works on its own even without the imagery. 

Still, once we gets to see these tracks finally incorporated into imagery, Bradley Cooper as the director takes an unconventionally intimate, less flashy yet effective approach to presenting its musical numbers. In fact, categorizing A Star is Born as a “musical” would be an injustice to what it truly is: a film with an element of music in it.  Almost every musical number in this film is restricted to stage performances (concert stage, talk show stage, etc). If there is ever such a thing as a grounded music film, then A Star is Born pretty much fits the bill. 

And to be honest, it is the restrictions that lend credence to the sort of realism it wants to convey. In the real world, people don’t just go bursting into a song in the middle of a deserted street. Obviously, there is room for the “musical type” of music films, but it certainly has no place in a film like A Star is Born, something that Cooper is aware of. 

Another unconventional approach Cooper takes with A Star is Born is its emphasis on live performances, which works in two ways. Firstly, it perfectly captures the ambience of listening and watching live music. Cooper and his team pay great attention to the way a singer and instrument voice would sound in a real-life sold-out stage and try emulating that vibe into the motion picture format. And his eye for detail is telling, with every explosion of sound as immersive as next one, giving the sensation that we are standing there, amongst the concertgoers. 

Secondly, it lets the actors on the screen actually exhibit their musical talents. There is rarely a scene in this film that indicates that the lead actors are lip syncing or mimicking someone rocking out to an instrument to a track playing in the background. Every musical number here looks and feels like the actors are actually singing live to an audience as they are filming. Or in Bradley Cooper’s case, who is a novice guitarist in real-life, it looks and feels like he himself is playing every note of his guitar on the spot. It’s raw, and at times imperfect, but it’s the flaws that make the experience all the more perfect. 

 

In terms of a love story, it is also not surprising to say that A Star is Born is a very romantic film. The nature of the lead couple’s relationship seems like the rare, almost fantastical reprieve from the often pessimistic notion that true love and celebrity status just don’t along.  However, there is nothing fantastical about the way this film portrays the various stages of Ally and Jackson’s relationship. Obviously, like any romantic couple in a romantic movie, there are the occasional flattering quotes thrown about throughout the film, like when Jackson looks Ally in the eye and says, “I just wanted to take another look at you” for instance. 

But, once the end credits roll and we look back at the couple’s conversation, there’s rarely a moment in the film where they have the typical romantic couple conversation. Their conversation is mostly laced with philosophical and motivational musings. This brings to light the quasi-mentor-apprentice/artist-muse aspect of Ally and Jackson’s relationship, how Jackson’s wisdom helps Ally discover her self-confidence and in return, how Ally’s presence helps Jackson get off his bad habit and finally rediscover his excitement for making music. In other words, A Star is Born is more interested in exploring how these two people connect on a human level than on a romantic-characters-in-a-romantic-movie sort of level. 

On an acting standpoint, that’s what watching Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga’s chemistry and interplay as their characters feels like, sincere and most importantly, very real. As a result, the progression of the couple’s relationship from a non-romantic to a romantic one flows much more naturally. 

What’s more commendable is the fact that Bradley Cooper remade A Star is Born not just for the sake of remaking a famous intellectual property and profiting from it. He actually uses it as a tool for social commentary on the modern-day music industry, and he doesn’t hold back on his sometimes salty, yet generally truthful take on the subject. Like an Orwellian nightmare, modern-day music industry is facing the scary reality where it’s slowly shying away from the word “music” itself. 

Music isn’t necessarily about the musicians’ creative expression or the talents anymore. It’s more about taking advantage of the music’s popularity and its musicians ‘ names to sell a product and a public image respectively, how a musician’s success today is defined by their looks rather than their voices. It’s a recurrent theme in both the lead characters’ journey, which the screenplay smartly slips into particular moments in the film that land on an emotional level without hitting us over the head with it. 

It can be as simple as a conversation in a bar where Ally mentions to Jackson about her nose being a hindrance in her making it in the industry. Or in Jackson’s case, it can be as subtle as forcing Jackson to watch younger, fresher talents take his place in gigs that he’s usually a shoo-in for. It can also be as on-the-nose as all of the scenes involving Ally’s manager Rez (Ravi Gavron) telling Ally to take more care on her looks than the music.  

Like most stories that are set in the entertainment/ music industry, A Star is Born is also a cautionary tale on fame. And credit to the screenwriters, they portray the concept of fame and its influence on the characters’ way of life in such a level-headed, realistic manner. Fame works like a double-edged sword. In the lead characters’ case, fame allows their voice to be heard by millions of people. It’s also the thing that motivates them to pursue their dreams and make a career out of it. 

On the negative side, fame also comes with overexposure and in the process, a lack of privacy. Every little move a celebrity makes is always under the public’s scrutiny, and every wrong move becomes news material. For Ally and Jackson, it’s this particular side of fame that is their biggest obstacle. It’s the thing that drives Jackson towards alcoholism, the thing that drives even Ally to slowly lose her sense of self, and how, when their personal problems collide, it makes keeping their relationship steady a bit more difficult. 

If there is any issue to be had with A Star is Born (or to be more precise, peculiar things), there are certain periods in the film that seems like it neglects the concept of time. At this point of the review, it is only a matter of small nitpicky stuff, but it is very clear that the film tries to cram in so many chapters detailing Ally and Jackson’s love life. It’s the kind of details that would logically take place within years if presented in real-time. 

Still, even for a film that is 135 minutes long, there are certain elements towards its second act that goes along in such rushed fashion, which in a sort of way, clashes with the film’s meandering, careful style of storytelling. As a result, there are moments that should indicate that a considerably long amount of time has passed by, but in our eyes, it feels more like only days or weeks have passed by. At the same time, the fact that there is little the people in the make-up department did to distinguish the two leads’ physical appearance from their first meeting to subsequent meetings didn’t do much wonders either. 

Mirroring its title, a star is born through Lady Gaga. She is handed a role that in a way is both tailor-made for her and against-type. Her character Ally here is a singer, which undoubtedly is Gaga’s bread and butter, and once again, she showcases why she is one of the finest voices in the 21^st century. At the same time, it’s a role that demands her to sing live. Pretty much a lot of her solo musical numbers are the stand-out, stop-and-stare moments throughout the film. After watching the parking lot scene where Lady Gaga sang “Shallow” acapella, it is much more difficult to deny that she can sing. 

But Lady Gaga’s true achievement lies in the non-singing part. A self-proclaimed Mother Monster, she’s usually known as the eccentric, out-there-type personality, who goes to award shows wearing meat dresses. Given a character that is a shy young woman lacking in confidence, she has to strip herself off all the crazy antics that defined the singer’s brand. 

Somehow, she eases into the role seamlessly. The magic of acting is when an actress operates like she’s not acting, and that is the best way to describe Gaga’s performance. She exudes realness every time she’s on a frame, a character we can relate to. Ally represents the realities of the modern-day female struggle with confidence, whether with their talents and body image, a struggle that is deeply felt through Gaga’s acting. 

Equal to Lady Gaga’s effort is Bradley Cooper, who is just as human as Gaga in the most tragic character in the story, Jackson Maine. In conjunction with this film’s theme of transformation, Cooper pretty much transforms from the breezy, charming funny guy persona in The Hangover (2009-2013) years to essentially Jeff Bridges circa Crazy Heart (2009) with the incoherent Southern drawl. 

All joking aside, it only makes sense that Cooper uses Jeff Bridges as a reference for Jackson’s body language to reflect the wiser side of the character’s personality. He is in a Kurt Cobain-esque fashion, an idealistic musical genius who has trouble sorting out his personal life, but under the surface, there resides years of experience under his belt. He presents both the troubling and wise sides of Jackson’s personality and these two clashes in such a quiet, restrained yet ultimately powerful way. It’s almost heart wrenching witnessing throughout the film Jackson, a man who is so passionate about his craft and supporting other people’s craft, giving up.  


Beyond the acting, as Bradley Cooper the singer, he proves himself to be a naturally gifted singer for a first timer. In fact, some might the actor could actually make this into a career he can fall into case he's had enough with the film industry. 

Saving the best for the last, Sam Elliott is the real stand out in what could be an Oscar-nominated (even Oscar-winning) supporting role as Jackson’s manager/half brother Bobby. Like any manager, Bobby is the person who caters to Jackson’s needs, helps him get gigs, but at the same time, he is also not afraid to stand tall and put Jackson in his place. Yet what makes the manager character here different is Elliott’s effortless performance. 

A word that is thrown about in this review a lot, in Elliott’s hand, Bobby just seems like a real person. Bobby’s relationship with Jackson serves as a welcoming emotional detour from the main romantic couple plot. Everyday scenes of Bobby dragging a drunken Jackson to bed or him driving his talent to places here carry a much more heartfelt meaning to it. It provides that aching onlooker’s perspective of a person forced to inevitably watch his own brother run himself to the ground.   

CONCLUSION: 

With terrific music, the cast’s overall stripped-down, yet effective performances and Bradley Cooper’s intimate direction, A Star is Born balances its affectionate love story with its social commentary on fame and modern-day music industry in such a sweet, tragic yet very real way. 

Score: 9.5/10