A Director is Born

Rating: 9/10 (7 November 2018)

A Star is Born, contrary to what the title might imply, is not a Christmas movie. It is in fact the newest remake of a story that's been told several times over the past century, beginning with the 1937 original starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March. The most recent version prior to this year's edition was released in 1976 and starred Kris Kristofferson as a drunken rock star whose career is in the beginning of its decline. He has a chance meeting with an aspiring singer, played by Barbra Streisand, and works to launch her stage debut in his place.
This year's adaptation follows a similar story, and features Bradley Cooper in his directorial debut, also channeling his inner Keith Urban as rock/country artist Jackson Maine, who becomes infatuated with Lady Gaga's character Ally after watching her sing at a hole-in-the-wall drag bar. This is easily the best I have ever seen of Bradley Cooper onscreen. He inhabited this character so completely that Cooper himself was gone and Jack was all I saw. Cooper, who hails from Pennsylvania, put on the most authentic southern accent I have ever heard from a non-southerner. Actors typically put on a hillbilly twang when they attempt to portray this type of character, but there was nothing artificial going on here in the least. Lady Gaga, while not on Cooper's level, still surprised me with her acting talent. I would argue that she mostly played herself, but this is exactly what the character called for, and she did it well. Sam Elliot was a surprise -- I didn't expect to see him in this movie, but as Jack's (much) older brother Bobby, he gave a very subdued, yet powerfully emotional performance. If I could, I would absolutely nominate him for best supporting actor, and he was a consistent highlight to the movie.
A Star is Born is a romantic drama, first and foremost, but the music is absolutely central to the story. Most of the music, particularly the country style, was thoroughly enjoyable, and sounded like something I'd throw on to listen to while driving with friends. Once the movie delved into pop music, it lost its charm and came off as some of the more rote stuff I'd expect to hear from Bieber, but I think that was part of the point, as it helped us understand some of Jack's frustrations.
The movie is pretty long at roughly 2 hours, 15 minutes. The story, unfortunately, seemed to meander a bit and got a little slow in parts, but I would still say that each scene helped to build and develop the characters and the relationships defined over the course of the movie. We really got to know these people, and it also provided an interesting look into stardom to help us see celebrities as fellow humans with real problems and real flaws.
I'm very glad I finally found time to watch this movie before it left theaters, and I'd encourage others to do the same. If this is any indication of Bradley Cooper's future as a director, I'll be there day one to see his next movie.