A Star is Born Review

Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper in a film together, singing a range of country and pop music, whilst one battles an alcohol and substance addiction and the other sings in a drag bar. So far, so Hollywood? If ever there has been a film that has taken me from Hollywood and placed me in a homely, cuddle of beautiful writing and deeply personal characters, it is ‘A Star Is Born’.

‘A Star Is Born’ is written, produced and directed, whilst also starring, Bradley Cooper (this being his directorial debut no less). He stars as Jack, the previously mentioned alcoholic, who is a star of rock’n’roll fame and an incredible guitarist whilst also hiding a broken soul and history. We first meet him in a deeply visual and audiophile orgasm of filmmaking, when

we can fully appreciate the characters ability to sing (who knew Cooper could do that?!) and play the guitar. From the off not only does it appear Cooper is on best-form acting wise but clearly someone who is more than natural behind the script (with some help from Eric Roth, writer of Forrest Gump) and camera, with concert moments throughout the film presented so

truthfully and perfectly that you can feel the goosebumps coming. And that is before we meet Lady Gaga’s Ally. Oh boy, we really are watching a star be born here (ignoring her millions of tracks sold and starring roles on TV).

Lady Gaga has always been a standout act on stage and on CD, but in this role, she goes to whole new levels of both songwriting and performance but also enters a whole new realm when it comes to acting ability. So much so, that so far I can imagine no other person better placed to receive quite a few award nominations this year. Her performance as Ally perfectly balances the naiveties of a star yet to be realised, humble, and family orientated, whilst having to walk on the fine line next to a man battling so many demons.

This neatly moves us on to the other incredible element that makes this film stand out so much and takes this film to new leagues, and that is purely the raw and incredible chemistry that Gaga and Cooper have. When Cooper cast Gaga in a role that had previously been set aside for Beyonce by Clint Eastwood (when he was directing the piece) there were rumblings of this being something that could easily make or break Gaga. But when you see these two actors together on screen, you can completely understand how natural it must have been for Cooper to cast her. Together their characters seem believable, their love true and more than anything the heartbreak of the plot cut deep. Without a doubt, the movie makes your soul happy when they duet on ‘Shallow’ are truly support each other no matter what. At other times it shatters the soul too, but all in a way that makes the plotting work perfectly and the writing relatable.

Without doubt this film does mirror many of the aspects we know of Gaga, her ambition, her changing musical style (we could assume in some shape Gaga was similarly forced to change her style of look and music by a Hollywood music producer), but her sheer humility makes this performance a standout feature-film leading lady debut (ignoring her previous work in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For). With Cooper on incredible form simply through his acting, let alone when we remember he also wrote and directed this piece, then he himself deserves recognition of this film is one of the greatest directorial debuts in recent years.

This film proves that this is the work of a writer who believes in the characters he not only acts but writes. When you then put these two together, the magic of ‘A Star is Born’ quite literally sings. I can only call this film a heart-wrenching piece of music-based cinema. A love story for the ages.