Title might better have A Star Falls

Rating: 5/10 (7 October 2018)

Bradley Cooper - Producer-Director-Writer-Star - dominates the screen, except when Lady Gaga is singing. His performance is a tour de force, surely worthy of award nomination. However, the title - now in its fourth iteration - is A Star is Born, and we don't get to see too much of that. We already know how brilliantly Lady Gaga's singing is, so that comes as no surprise. The focus needed to be on how this acknowledged songstress overcomes other obstacles. Instead, we get to see how her mentor (Cooper) unravels, no spoiler as it is obvious from the first frame of the film. Aside from singing - always glorious - Lady Gaga isn't given much to do; what there is, she acquits quite well. Cooper got the film he wanted, and he doesn't disappoint. But it deserved more.