From Deep to 'Shallow'

Rating: 6/10 (29 July 2019)

This remake of a remake of a remake starts off at the deep end - gritty, slightly dark and manipulative (it knows what it needs to do to pull at your heart strings). And for the first half of the movie it does - when the 'Shal-la-la-low' bit happens you feel it.
But that's also when the movie starts to move back into the 'Shal-hal-lo-lows' with odd (unnecessary) camera work, a disjointed narrative and the usual cheesy clichés are ramped up like a checklist through to the end.
The relationship at the core although vital, seems somewhat rushed. This seems partly due to the movie spending too much time on elements that aren't important or relevant at the expense of things that are: the unnecessary 'transformation' of Ally's character into something she isn't serves no purpose. It also misses out chunks of narrative and hope you won't care - how did Ally automatically know the structure of the song from just the handful of lyrics she sang in the car park or why was Jackson dropped from singing at the Grammy's - and while we're at it your brother is suddenly back on the scene to tell you this news?!
The lack of conviction after a while starts to grate, Cooper's Lebowski accent literally does start to be a parody of 'stealing the voice' of Sam Elliott and shoehorning a few lines about 'the belt' to set up the emotional climax feels clumsy and rushed.
There is such a disconnect in this conclusion that even when Lady Gaga has her clichéd Whitney Song moment at the end (cue dodgy see-saw camera work) you just don't feel it like you did when she first got on stage for the 'Shal-hal-la-low' moment.