A major disappointment after all the hype

Rating: 1/10 (30 November 2018)

My mother wanted to see this movie and as I had heard many good comments about it, I agreed to go. After about 15 minutes I wanted to leave but couldn't as I had company. Where do I begin (and end)? Bradley Cooper, co-writer, co-producer, director and lead actor. His performance is painfully artificial. If only he had paid attention to his co-star Sam Elliott who outshines his director with his naturalistic and very effective performance. I just did not believe Mr. Cooper and unfortunately the movie seems to be mostly about his character the despite the movie's title.
As director Mr. Cooper equates dark shots and bad sturm and drang acting (by himself) to miraculously create a dramatic masterpiece. Sorry Mr. Cooper but is your movie and you are responsible for how bad it is. So many two headed shots of Cooper and Gaga zoomed right in so one cannot see the contours of their heads. Very claustrophobic film overall. I felt nothing when Mr. Cooper's character plays his final scene.
Lady Gaga is no actress but her acting is okay.Her saving grace (and the movie's) is her beautiful singing voice.
The best actors in the movie by a wide margin are Sam Elliott and non-actor Andrew Dice Clay as Gaga's father.
Basically, a badly directed, dramatically phony story with a painful performance by the lead actor.