Doesn't Quite Capture The Ultimate Magic

Rating: 8/10 (3 March 2019)

This third version of A Star Is Born, this time starring Lady Gaga Gaga and Bradley Cooper is a paradox that doesn't quite hit the highest notes. Bradley Cooper, as star and director, by making this more authentic movie however commendable, loses some its emotional and cerebral edge. The movie comes across somewhat disjointed, with several scenes seemingly just jumping out at the audience without any mental transition or understanding of the thoughts and thinking of the characters as to how the following scene came to be. The sudden AA meeting is one example. The lack of sufficient Bradley Coopers' character's explanation or motivation for his actions much later in the movie is another example. There is the harsh pivotal manager's scene that emotionally twists the audience in an expected but wrong way. Even the unnecessary very last shot of the movie brings a tonal dissonance that seems too traditionally commercial. Overall, this is a credible, great effort at direction and acting that unlike the class musicals of Moulin Rouge (2001), Chicago (2002), and Momma Mia! (2008) doesn't quite capture the dramatic operatic intensity nor the just as important mental connections to the audience. A nice contrast is Craig Ferguson's directorial effort in the more commercial but quite effective comedy drama I'll Be There (2003) and another more dramatic version of the ravages of alcoholism can be found in the classic Days of Wine and Roses (1952) with has similar overtones to A Star is Born but on a more real pedestrian level away from the glitzy glamour of Hollywood or Nashville.