Director: Bradley Cooper
Runtime: 136 minutes
Can I just say, Bradley Cooper is damn talented! Unlike a lot of GaGa fans, I was not anxiously anticipating this film and knew the bare minimum about the plot. I saw a lot of posts about the album and fans seemed to be waiting on the edge of their seats to see Lady GaGa’s new songs. For me, as I left the cinema in tears, I was absolutely astounded by the sheer talent of Bradley Cooper.
I will start, rather bizarrely, at my final thoughts; this film blew me away. I don’t like to be one of those reviewers who clearly has their favourite genres and gives positive reviews about any film in that genre, and that is definitely not what I’m doing here. For the most part, I tend to hate dramas. I don’t like the full-on plots, the high-intensity emotion or feeling shit about myself. I wouldn’t describe myself as a very emotional person and these types of films just irritate me. This film, however, completely engulfed me into the characters, storyline and the beautiful emotional journey.
Based on an original film of the same name, A Star is Born is a romantic drama film about a young singer who meets and falls in love with an established rock and roll star, only to find her career ascending while his goes into decline. With a storyline about famous singers, you would think it would be hard to relate or delve into this film, but it was quite the opposite and I quickly became engrossed in this beautifully tragic story. You felt like you were watching a modern rendition of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet as you saw these two star-crossed lovers fall deeply in love with one another.
As I stated before, Bradley Cooper was absolutely phenomenal in this film. I will try and slip at least two more compliments towards Cooper in this review as his performance was truly breathtaking. Not only did he co-write and direct this film, but he brought this character, Jack, to life with a sense of sincerity I have never seen. The film begins with Jack on stage singing to an enormous crowd. Within this first shot, we are brought into Jack’s world, seeing the concert from his point of view. With a screech of white noise, the audience is also quickly introduced to Jack’s hearing impairment. After the concert, Jack, already inebriated, searches for the closest bar to drown his sorrows. This is where he meets Ally and he is quickly enamoured by her beautiful rendition of “La Vie en Rose”. We see Jack as a wonderful gentleman who is soft and kind. However, as the film progresses, we see glimpses of Jack’s inner demons as he deals with the reality of life on the road as a famous musician. This film does a beautiful job of displaying this lifestyle in all of its glory as well as the negative effects this lifestyle can have on one’s mental health. What I loved most about Cooper’s performance was that he acted this role in a way that it made you sympathise with his character but not necessarily pity him. It wasn’t your cliche decline of a star into madness but rather showed the literal ups and downs of the life as he didn’t get progressively worse or become a horrible person but was good one day and not the next. You loved Jack the entire time and found yourself aligning with Ally having to figure out which version of Jack would appear in the next scene. Bradley Cooper’s performance truly brought me into the character of Jack and the internal struggles he was facing each and every scene.
Lady GaGa’s performance was also incredible. As I mentioned above, I wouldn’t categorise myself as a massive Lady GaGa fan. I don’t know if it’s simply because her name is Lady GaGa that I struggle to take her seriously, but she has been an artist I have only mildly appreciated. However, after watching this film I have a greater appreciation for her voice. Her voice was absolutely breathtaking in every song she sang and she demonstrated her range in a big way. Sometimes you see artists try their lot in acting and you just think “Ugh, stick to your singing honey” (e.g. Rhianna), but I was astounded by GaGa’s performance as Ally. Again, I was completely taken away from the star I knew and saw her only as Ally and her journey. Even when she sang, she sang in a way that wasn’t seen before in GaGa’s other music. She was likeable, kind and remained so throughout the film. The audience wasn’t presented with a token representation on how fame can turn you into a spoilt brat. Ally remained kind and loved Jack as much as the day she met him. What the story did present were the tough choices artists often have to make in regards to their craft. Additional backup dances, hair colour and style were vastly changed from the beginning of her journey, but she never lost sight of the things that truly mattered to her and if she did stray for a moment, she ended up back on track because of her good personality. She remained grounded and kind and that was refreshing to see in a film about fame.
Finally, I feel like I would be killed if I didn’t talk about the soundtrack. This film is not a musical, but it does focus on two artists, so there are several songs along the way and the soundtrack plays an important part in the plot’s development. Something very important to mention before I even start discussing the music is that all of the songs were performed live by both actors. Nothing was improved or changed in post-production, making these songs even more moving. My favourite songs were “Shallow” performed by Lady GaGa and Bradley Cooper and “La Vie en Rose” by GaGa. The first demonstrated an instant connection between Ally and Jack as he invites this humble nobody of Ally onto the stage with him. They share this beautiful duet and GaGa’s strong and soulful voice shakes throughout the entire cinema. The audience has a captured moment with Ally as you can see the disbelief in her eyes as she performs her own song to a thunderous audience. We see her confidence grow as she sings with Jack and their connection is established. GaGa’s performance of “La Vie en Rose” was also extremely moving as it establishes a very different Ally perform for a mesmerised Jack. Before the two characters have ever met, you can see the profound effect this song has on Jack as we almost see Jack’s spirit return to him, leaving him in tears at the end of the song.
A Star is Born is a beautiful and moving film. While Lady GaGa’s acting was indeed astounding, Bradley Cooper was definitely the stand out of this film. His performance as Jack was charming and believable. He demonstrated talent I was unaware he had and I left the cinema still thinking about his character and trying to remember their love story from the beginning. Lady GaGa’s final performance of “I’ll Never Love Again” perfectly concluded the film, leaving half the audience in tears. I can already predict this film will definitely get the attention of the Oscars for GaGa’s performance, best original song and Bradley Cooper’s performance as Jack. A Star is Born is a touching and soulful drama that will leave you an emotional wreck, but you will enjoy being that way.
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