"A Star is Born (2018)" Review | An Emotional, Electric Experience
A Star is Born (2018) is one of the most pleasant surprises of the year. With phenomenal performances, intelligent direction, and perhaps one of the best screenplays for a romance-drama in recent memory, this film easily earns its place among the best films of the year.
Despite the last quarter of this year being packed with films that have piqued my interest, A Star is Born managed to stick out as my most anticipated film of the year. For the sake of transparency, I’ve never seen the previous iterations of this film. The original 1937 film and the two subsequent remakes of it are both highly praised films. While perhaps many moviegoers garnered their excitement over their admiration of the previous adaptations of this film, my excitement for 2018’s version of A Star is Born derived from the directorial debut and starring role of Bradley Cooper, who appeared nearly unrecognizable in the film’s early trailers. Learning that the film would focus on romance and music, centering on a story about how the music industry impacts musicians, I was eagerly anticipating seeing A Star is Born.
Luckily, that anticipation wouldn’t be for naught. 2018’s A Star is Born is perhaps one of the best cinematic experiences of the year for me. From a phenomenal screenplay that trusts that its actors will deliver its material convincingly, to Cooper’s intelligent direction, to the electric and believable chemistry of Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga’s characters, there’s simply a lot to admire about this film. Despite myself not being the biggest fan of the romance-drama genre, I can easily claim that A Star is Born very well may be the best film of the year. Let’s discuss what gives it that status.
In any film class, there’s a guarantee that you’ll learn about the importance of the first shot. Any great film illustrates what its story is all about within the very first shot. For example, the first shot of Cool Hand Luke, one of the greatest prison break movies ever made, shows the reason why the titular character gets arrested - the first shot teaches you everything you need to know about the story. A Star is Born's first shot expertly conveys everything we need to know about our protagonist, Jackson Maine (played by Bradley Cooper). Jackson takes pills and downs them with alcohol as he walks back onstage to continue his concert in front of hundreds of fans. We’re instantly given an idea of who this character is and what his struggles throughout the film will likely be.
After performing at a concert, Jackson stops by a local bar and, by chance, comes across a talented singer-songwriter named Ally (played by Lady Gaga), who sings on the side to relieve herself of the monotony of a less-than-enjoyable job. The two meet backstage after her performance, and we’re immediately greeted with one of A Star is Born’s most vividly mesmerizing characteristics - the electric chemistry between our two leads. Jackson’s drunkenness and rather dorky approach to flirtation with Ally is accompanied by Ally’s slight insecurity and bold fierceness. Both of these characters spend the night expressed their shared admiration and passion for music as we learn the backstories and desires of both characters.
As Jackson develops an affection for Ally, he eventually offers to have her sing alongside him at one of his concerts. After this, Ally quickly gains notoriety and eventually receives the opportunity to rise in stardom. What follows is a story about how Jackson and Ally develop as both individuals and as a couple and how they’re affected by the music industry.
This film’s heart is in showing how different musicians can be impacted by the perils of the music industry. Jackson is a popular country-rock artist that entirely relies on music to give his life meaning. Drugs and music help keep him being able to creatively express himself through music. Additionally, he also suffers from hearing problems, but he’s too stubborn to do anything about it due to feeling that wearing proper ear protection would prevent him from being “with” the audience. Jackson represents musicians that rely on their acclaimed fame to keep giving their life meaning, even if it’s the detriment of their own well-being.
Meanwhile, Ally represents the other side of the spectrum of the music industry. Beginning as an independent singer-songwriter that simply wants to express her ideas and passion for music through making songs, Ally tells Jackson that she wants to retain her creativity should she make it big. After meeting with producers, Ally is initially insistent on maintaining her creative freedom, but ultimately conforms to what her producers want. She gradually becomes an over-produced artist that’s more focused on making high-energy songs that’ll lift peoples’ moods while listening, rather than creating songs that express her creative ideas and stories. Ally represents musicians that sacrifice their creative integrity for the sake of becoming a well-known artist.
These two different perspectives make for two characters that feel extremely human. Both characters have likable and unlikable traits to them, which not only makes their characters feel realer, but it also makes Jackson and Ally’s relationship feel realer. When disagreements occur between the two lovers, it’s not always clear who’s in the right. This makes the romance in the film not only feel more real to the audience, but it’s what ultimately gives this film more emotional punch to it. Through making two characters that have electric chemistry with each other, have positive and negative traits, and have a believable progression in their relationship, we’re given a romance that, by the time the final act comes around, makes us care deeply about both Jackson and Ally and where their relationship goes.
Lesser romances wouldn’t accomplish this. Poor romance films may make its leads seem perfect and flawless to convey the romance between the leads (see Crazy Rich Asians). Even good romance films focus more on the negative traits for only one of the leads (see (500) Days of Summer). A Star is Born becomes a phenomenal romance through devoting time to equally focus on the struggles and desires of both leads, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses throughout the film.
With that, let’s start talking about the intelligent, well-rounded screenplay on display here. As this film centers around Ally steadily rising in fame while Jackson’s fame wanes, the most essential thing that this screenplay needed to accomplish was indicating the movement of both of these characters at a believable pace. Thankfully, the screenplay absolutely nails this. Not only is there a lot of movement for both of these characters in the film’s 135-minute run time, but this movement is tightly presented. Every scene, every piece of dialogue, and every expression on a character’s face feels integral to the movement of either the characters or the story at hand.
There’s an incredibly striking example that illustrates this point. Throughout the film, Jackson expresses his distaste in dancing onstage when performing music. He’s a believer in having music speak for itself. Later on, there’s a scene where Ally performs a song on SNL that has shallow lyrics, high energy, and sexy dancing. This performance, as viewed by Jackson, is merely “junk food” music - music that perhaps makes people feel upbeat in the moment, but it’s music that is ultimately hollow and meaningless. As this performance goes on, Jack can’t even bear to watch. His disappointment isn’t expressed through any dialogue, but rather, through his facial expression. He doesn’t say anything, yet his expression tells us everything we need to know: his wife is no longer making the kind of music that made him fall in love with her. Because of this, he begins drinking again, leading to further strain on their marriage. This film trusts its audience to understand the emotions of its characters through non-verbal storytelling at times, and it ultimately pays off in the end. This trust in the audience is the mark of a truly excellent screenplay.
This leads into the incredible performances in this film. Bradley Cooper as Jackson Maine is perhaps one of the most convincing performances I’ve seen in quite a while. With Maine essentially being a “country-rock redneck drunk” archetype, Cooper brings forth a lot of vivacity and genuineness in Maine’s character. A particularly noteworthy moment regarding Cooper’s performance is actually featured in the trailers for the film. There’s an instance where Jack calls to Ally, stating that he “just wanted to take another look at [her]”. A lesser actor may have made this exchange come off as cringey, but Cooper’s electricity and genuineness makes this moment feel sweet and memorable (which is especially effective for the film, given that this dialogue is called back to later in the film in a very bittersweet way).
Of course, Cooper’s great performance is accompanied and possibly even outmatched by Lady Gaga’s stunning performance as Ally. Gaga nails showcasing the somewhat insecure Ally, as she steadily transforms into a star that gives up on the creativity that’s responsible for sparking her career in the first place. Ally’s character is perhaps the one that goes through the most change throughout the film, which requires a wide variety of conveyances of Ally’s thoughts and feelings as she changes over time. Thankfully, Lady Gaga takes the phenomenal groundwork for Ally’s character build by the screenplay, and takes her character into one that feels fully realized. Both performances create two characters that you are undoubtedly going to care a lot about by the end of the film, allowing for the greatest possible amount of emotional punch as these characters’ struggles ramp up in the film’s final act.
The chemistry between Cooper and Gaga is simply electric. Their relationship is written incredibly well, and their performances elevate these characters to feeling like people that I genuinely cared for. In fact, this entire film can be defined as that: electric. From its stellar performances to its tight writing to its commentary and the perils of the modern music industry, A Star is Born is vivaciously electrifying throughout.
Lastly, I want to give a special mention to the film’s soundtrack. As one may expect from a film entirely revolving around music much like with La La Land, the soundtrack here is absolutely, well, electrifying. It offers another opportunity for us to learn more about the characters and the story at hand. From Ally’s “junk food” music mentioned above, or Jackson’s hit song that foreshadows his eventual struggles with the lyrics "Maybe it’s time to let the old ways die…”, the songs add an additional layer to the storytelling here, which is something that’s always admirable, in my eyes.
A Star is Born is one of the rare instances where I truthfully can’t think of any noteworthy criticisms. Any ones I’ve thought of are merely surface-level nitpicks that don’t detract from the film’s quality in any way. A Star is Born leaves a significant emotional impact to its audience, and it’s delivered in a tightly edited film with a screenplay that both trusts the performances of its actors and the intelligence of its audience. As with any great film, A Star is Born has left me thinking about its story and characters long after I’ve seen it.
I’m not even much of a fan of romances, and I can easily admit the following: A Star is Born very well may be the best film of the year. Whether you enjoy romances or find the genre too cliché-filled, A Star is Born is a film that simply can’t be missed.
Final Grade: A+
Thanks for reading! What did you think of A Star is Born? How do you think it stacks to the previous adaptations of the 1937 original? As always, join the conversation and let me know!
