Gaga is awesome.

Rating: 8/10 (30 October 2018)

Hmmmm.
Pretty torn about this one. On one hand, Lady Gaga is indeed a revelation. Like, "Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls"-type of revelation. The original songs are great. And for a first effort, Bradley Cooper's direction feels very surehanded.
Buuuuuuuut although the story is timeless, the screenplay and the direction feels safe and/or cliche. Cooper doesn't maintain the kinetic energy the film has in its first act. It was exhilarating for the first hour or so, then just says "timeout" and loses its audience until the final 20 minutes.
It deserves to be recognized (it probably will by various critic circle awards) but with the exception of Gaga and the original songs, it's a long shot for the film to scoop up some other Academy Award nominations.