I totally fell in love with the film

Rating: 9/10 (6 October 2018)

I am all but a Lady Gaga fan, honestly, because of that gaga thingy. But after watching the trailer I knew she would be different, and she was, and she actually was stunning. The film may have a few deficiencies, but I find Lady Gaga and Bradly Cooper as well as the enchanting soundtrack do more than compensate for them.
The two give a wonderful couple and obviously were on the same wavelength. Both make their characters totally convincing and must have thrown in much of their own experience. While Jack tries to escape from the vicious circle of alcohol and drugs, Ally takes her chance to get ahead herself. This latter certainly would make her independent of Jack, so it's heartbreaking to see Ally still being in love with him even after he nearly ruined her career.
The score is just great. Lady Gaga with her powerful voice excels in her part, but Cooper, who I learned is not a professional singer, is convincing with his rough voice as well. "Shallow" certainly has a potential to become a hit. I think the stage shots are among the best of the whole film.
The first third is plainly overwhelming and totally drags you in, the finale is great again. In-between there are a few subplots which - maybe caused by too many screenwriters - might have benefited from streamlining to achieve a 2 h runtime. Still, I never even thought about a glance at my watch.
I admit, I totally fell in love with the film and gave it 9 stars, and in my tally Lady Gaga, Brad Cooper, together with the wonderful score, would well deserve an Oscar nomination.