REVIEW: A Star Is Born

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Most actors who make the transition into the director’s chair start small, with an episode of television or an indie film. Not Bradley Cooper, though. The four-time Oscar nominee chose a high-profile remake that bounced around Hollywood for years, like Babe Ruth calling his shot.

His interpretation of the tragic melodrama A Star Is Born (the fifth version after 1932’s What Price Hollywood?, 1937’s template-setting “original,” 1954’s Judy Garland musical adaptation and 1976’s critically derided take with Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson) came to fruition after Clint Eastwood flirted with the project for a while but ultimately passed. Cooper swooped in to grab it and proves he was paying attention when he collaborated with the iconic filmmaker on 2014’s American Sniper.

The buzz on his directorial debut went into overdrive almost immediately, when he cast Lady Gaga (nee Stefani Germanotta) as his co-star despite her lack of big screen acting experience. Then, after A Star Is Born played film festivals in Venice and Toronto, the hype swelled to dangerous levels with talks of Oscar inevitability.

I tend to be wary of that stuff, so I went into an early press screening with a healthy dose of skepticism. I didn’t sit there with arms crossed, hoping I’d hate the movie or anything like that. I just tried to adjust my expectations and treat it like a typical new release, not the savior of awards season that some prognosticators were painting it as.

Nevertheless, after the first 30 minutes or so, I was a believer. A Star Is Born is an undeniable powerhouse. It’s early, but there’s no question it’s a contender for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Screenplay. I’m usually horrible at predictions, but I’m calling Best Song now. “Shallow,” the goosebump-inducing duet between Cooper and Lady Gaga that epitomizes the film’s title, is a shoo-in.

Trophies are nice, and Cooper has the political and PR savvy to win the popularity contest. But there’s a more pressing question: is the movie really that good? Absolutely. From the opening scene – a concert performance that demonstrates Cooper’s commitment to realistically playing a music superstar – to the heartbreaking final moment when his character’s protégée assumes her place in the spotlight, the movie plays the audience like a drum.

But the experience almost never feels manipulative (a couple of late-in-the-game developments notwithstanding), because there’s such a dedication to quality at every level. From the original songs, to Cooper’s insistence that the characters sing and play instruments live, to Matthew Libatique’s beautiful cinematography, to the fully lived-in supporting performances. Everything about the movie just feels right.

If you’ve seen the film’s breathtaking trailer, then you already know the basic outline of the plot. Cooper plays Jackson Maine, a seasoned musician who finds himself standing at a precipice as he battles substance abuse and debilitating tinnitus. After a concert one night, Jackson stops off at the nearest dive bar – which turns out to be a drag club – and meets Ally (Lady Gaga), a working-class girl who delivers a showstopping performance of “La Vie En Rose.”

Stunned, he hangs around the bar until she agrees to get to know him better. They spend the entire night wandering around, talking and getting into trouble (she punches a disrespectful cop, he finds a grocery store and shows her how to use frozen peas to keep her fist from swelling).

They fall in love pretty much instantly, and he gives her an opportunity to pursue a music career that she thought was impossible. However, his demons get harder to fight as her stock rises, so they eventually find themselves at a crossroads. Is this a fairy tale where true love prevails? Or is a darker, more realistic fate in the cards?

The first hour of A Star Is Born is as close to perfect as movies get. Things get a little shakier in the (arguably too long) second half, as the story begins to lay the track to arrive at its inevitable destination. Jackson behaves a certain way because he’s “supposed” to, rather than as a natural evolution of his character. Ally loses her fierce independence simply because the finale requires her career to reach a specific pinnacle.

Still, the film recovers just in time to pack a wallop of an ending, which is further bolstered by emotionally devastating work from Lady Gaga and Sam Elliott, who plays Jackson’s much older brother. I’m terrible at predictions, but I’d put money on that clip being the one that plays during their respective categories on Oscar night. It’s a doozy.

Although it probably won’t shatter box office records this weekend, look for A Star Is Born to play well into the holiday season. It’s like Cooper designed it in a lab to appeal to multiple demographics simultaneously. It’s one of the oldest clichés around, but the movie literally has something for everyone. The first-time director has a massive word-of-mouth hit on his hands.

A Star Is Born is rated R for language throughout, some sexuality/nudity and substance abuse.

Grade: A-