Good but not great unless you're gaga for gaga

Rating: 7/10 (22 January 2019)

I've not seen any of the original cuts of this movie so this review is my honest opinion on this movie as a standalone movie without bias from previous versions. I would say this movie is definitely worth watching if you enjoy good character acting, if you enjoy the interplay of relationships, and if you enjoyed the performance aspect of the singing and musical play by Bradley Cooper. I would say Bradley Cooper's performance as a broken individual with a broken past is probably the highlight of the entire movie. Combined with his singing and playing a various musical instruments he provides quite a compelling performance. Lady Gaga's performance was good as well but I wouldn't say it blew me away in anyway. I think the majority of people who are giving this movie phenomenal reviews are people who are fans of Lady Gaga as a musician and have a heavy bias towards seeing her in a movie that is basically her being herself singing on stage and performing. Not that she didn't provide a good performance but it's nothing that I would run home and tell my friends you need to see this. I think the best part of her performance was some small moments here and there in the intimate interaction between her and Bradley Cooper's characters. But I thought the play between Bradley Cooper's character and Sam Elliott was much more compelling and moving. Overall the movie is definitely worth seeing I would say but it's not the award winner that everyone is hyping it up to be. The storyline is a little slow at times. And it doesn't really feel like it moves along with a great compelling pace or really pulls you in with heartfelt emotion, with the exclusion of Bradley Cooper's performance. I'd give it a solid 7/10... maybe 7.5/10 if you're a big fan of Cooper