A kinder, gentler version of a showbiz tale

Rating: 8/10 (7 October 2018)

So this is yet another version of the ever-popular story of a showbiz star helping a newcomer in business and then becoming the has-been.
Compared with the earlier adaptations, this one by Bradley Cooper is kinder and gentler in tone (there's even a dog!), though i find the one by Frank Pierson more gripping and enjoyable.
Cooper's Jackson is definitely more charming than Kristofferson's John Norman, but Lady Gaga's Ally doesn't blow you away like how Streisand's Esther did. Still, one finds these characters actually likable while the ones in previous versions were far less sympathetic.
The songs in this new version are just okay, while the ones sung by Streisand and Kristofferson in 1976 were more catchy and I remember how i just couldn't stop listening to that soundtrack then. Maybe "Shallow" sticks a little better, because of the hook.