Film Review: A Star is Born

Director: Bradley Cooper

Starring: Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Sam Elliott

Running time: 135 mins

"Music is essentially twelve notes between an octave. Twelve notes and the octave repeats. It’s the same story. Told over, and over. All any artist can offer this world is how they see those twelve notes." Industry veteran Bobby (Sam Elliott) gives this advice to Ally (Lady Gaga) while she’s on the verge of a stratospheric break in the industry. While simultaneously giving a nod and a wink to the existence of the fourth version, and third remake, of one of Hollywood’s favourite archetypal rise-and-fall romances.

The story first hit screens in 1937 followed by a 1954 remake with Judy Garland and James Mason. Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson became the lead roles in the 1976 version which swooped a handful of Golden Globes for performances and original music. Bradley Cooper takes the director’s chair for the first time in this hypnotic fourth telling while also starring in the lead as Jackson Maine. Flanked, of course, by Lady Gaga as Ally in what is her first feature-length lead role.

The film follows shaggy-haired alcoholic Jackson Maine who is playing out the rest of his days performing his repertoire of classic hits. This is until he stumbles across Ally who has just about given up on her dream of making it as a big singer. As her career takes off, his continues to dwindle, and their personal relationship begins to falter as Jackson struggles to tame his demons.

So is the case in musicals that the drama is often lost in an endless amount of repetitive songs. Or the execution of the musical numbers is so artificial it becomes hard to take any part of the film seriously. These fears are disintegrated during the first five minutes here as Jackson Maine takes to the stage and performs the first of many outstanding original songs. It’s been widely circulated that the music is being performed live which adds to the surreal experience further. Musically, Gaga would be expected to be excellent, but Bradley Cooper’s singing voice is so exceptional it’s easy to forget that there is only one huge-selling artist on the screen. With the help of Alabama singer-songwriter Jason Isbell and experienced musician Lukas Nelson, Cooper and Gaga have created a soundtrack which will surely top charts upon release and also give The Greatest Showman a run for its money when it comes to sales.

Aside from the music, Cooper has woven a tale that won’t just tug at the heartstrings, but tear them out completely. His and Lady Gaga’s chemistry is the most natural I have seen in years. This dominates the film, and plays a big part in making sure this first hour of the film is absolutely perfect. There has been big Oscar rumours surrounding the two stars, and while it’s extremely early to be talking about that, it will take something very special to top these two lead performances. Cooper is excellent as a self-destructive heart-throb, his voice is a couple of octaves lower than usual and he seems to knit each word together without ever over-playing any drunkenness. While Gaga’s screen presence is as dominating as when she is on stage. She is captivating in every scene she features and never once looks out of place.

As far as debuts go, it’s difficult to envisage a more spellbinding job of directing that Cooper could have done, by surrounding himself with endless talent both on and off the screen (supremely experienced cinematographer Matthew Libatique must take a lot of the applause), he has created a devastating, spectacular, shattering musical for the ages, and a very early contender for an awards swoop.

Did you know? The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival on August 31, 2018, where Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper received an eight-minute standing ovation after the screening.

A Star is Born is screening at Broadway Cinema from Friday 5 October