Still implausible

Rating: 7/10 (23 December 2018)

Although Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper both deserve acting and music nods at the Oscars for this film, with believable performances and a much improved screenplay to the Barbra Streisand version, it still remains an implausible premise. Firstly, there's nobody like Jackson Maine, no superstar who is his age and dresses like that who could walk into a drag bar and be instantly recognized. The closest is someone like Dave Navarro. Adam Levine, Steve Tyler, or Chris Cornell, but Cooper has made his character very old-fashioned, like Neil Young or Kris Kristofferson. Both of whom would not be recognized in a drag bar anyway. I feel like he should have been a rock n roller with eyeliner and rings etc. to be realistic for this generation. Secondly, it's implausible that his country fans would appreciate a woman they never saw before jumping up on stage the second song he performs to sing with him, and then take over! No promoter would agree to this! She could be the support act, but this takeover beggars belief. It just showed a lack of understanding of the music industry. The song she sings in the car park for two seconds he suddenly plays in front of 100,000 people and then she sings it with him, despite them never rehearsing. Also, why on earth would Ally agree to being the next Ariana Grande and whore it up? She was like Adele at the end! Very confusing. Although I suppose Lady Gaga herself took this route, although she was never as tacky and had art to her act. It doesn't add up. It also seems doubtful that Jackson Maine would still be pulling stadiums if he was that washed up. And the other problem, the music is just not epic enough. If he was such a superstar, he needed superstar tunes. He had none. This was also the issue with the previous version, but at least Kris K was actually a superstar in real life, so he seemed more realistic, whereas Barbra didn't. Talking of which, the final song is not a torch song and is pretty lame, so doesn't really work. I think this needs to be the last version of this movie ever because it's out of date and never worked as a music movie in the first place. Having said that, I think both Cooper and Gaga will get and deserve nods if not wins, and cue their duet at the musical interval. Sam Elliott should sweep a supporting actor role award. He was hands down fantastic.