"Bad Romance" made Lady Gaga a Pop Star, a Good Romance will make her a Hollywood Lady...

Rating: 9/10 (17 November 2018)

"A Star is Born" is a cinematic contradiction. It reveals a lot and yet doesn't reveal much.
There's a moment that caught my attention and doesn't feature any of the two lead actors. Ally's father (Andrew Dice Clay) tells his colleagues about people who had enough talent to compete with the likes of Sinatra (with Sinatra actually) but didn't have their big break or didn't believe in themselves enough. Point was: it's not enough to have what it gets, it also takes to believe in getting it.
Now, let's get back to my contradiction: Lady Gaga is an international star, as soon as she popped up in the pop scene, it was quite obvious she was the true heiress of Madonna and a star in her own right. It wasn't just about her talent but also her eccentric looks, her unique sense of fashion, and the fact that an ordinary-looking Italian girl-next-door could become a legitimate icon. So everyone thought she was the new Madonna but who would have thought one second she would also be the new Barbra Streisand?
What Lady Gaga delivers in "A Star is Born" is a performance that shines through its straight naturalness wrapped up in an artistic talent that blooms under the comforting direction of Bradley Cooper, the director and his character. That an established star would be able to get back to her roots and play a shy newcomer (with an uncanny resemblance to Sofia Coppola) slowly overcoming her insecurities is actually more impressive than any of your routine Oscar-bait mellow-dramas.
So Lady Gaga is Ally, a girl who's got the talent but has entrapped her motivation behind the bars of a nose complex (can't help but see the Streisand parallel). It takes the encounter with Jackson Maine -an aging rocker played by a handsomely bearded Bradley Cooper- to realize that she's got it after all. It's not just the talent but that she's got something to tell. It might sound corny but the film is actually immune against such criticism because one can't ignore the self-referential aspect.
Now let me open a parenthesis: I was looking forward to watching "A Star is Born" before that version was even in the talks, I wanted to watch the Judy Garland then the original and the 1976 remake. It ended up with Cooper's being the first version I saw. It's obvious that the titular star can't not-be played by a complete artist with a few personal demons to slay and Streisand and Garland must have a great deal of adversity in their lives. It is obvious why some confessions from Ally hit the right chord acting-wise.
Indeed, being Ally allows Lady Gaga to open up about her insecurities in the kind of bravura performance that goes deeper than making yourself uglier, it's about undressing your soul. Ally represents Stefani Germanotta before all the "Roma-Romama" and "Ga-Ga Ou-lala" started spreading all over the radios. I discovered her at the end of 2009 and at the beginning of 2010, Lady Gaga was a brand-name already. So yes, a star can be born that quickly because there's something about talent.
Hips don't lie, said Shakira, I would say talent is an even worse liar, which takes me back to the initial contradiction. The show reveals that Lady Gaga is not only musically gifted but can play her heart out and is worthy of more demanding roles than Madonna or BeyoncÃ©... but I wasn't surprised, it wasn't just her Golden Globe win that rang a bell but the fact that some people just got what it takes. And for that, even Bradley Cooper deserves some credit, that he recycles material and works on a timeless story doesn't mean he couldn't fail, he jeopardized his credibility on this directorial debut but proved to do half the job well by having the right cast.
Lady Gaga was perfect for the role and so was he as the lead role, the fading star Jackson Maine who discovers accidentally Ally singing Piaf in a shacked up bar and decides to take her as a protÃ©gÃ©e. It doesn't fool us one second that what go between these two persons are vibrations that venture in the realm of love rather than any dream of musical achievement, but it's through music that they find a way to seal their romance, through the future Oscar winner "Shallow", a song that I would have kept humming outside the theater if it wasn't for "Bad Romance" interfering with it.
The beauty of "A Star is Born" is that it works as much as a romance than a music film and combines these two aspects expertly. It's the kind of love story that doesn't need any artificial plot device, no cheating, no prison, only the ascension of a young woman and the descent into the hells of alcoholism of a man. The film opens with their romance and the rest is all about how one slowly rises above her demons while the other sinks into. It's a love story and the process of a separation going through scenes that are rather painful to watch and one so embarrassing I couldn't stare at the screen.
To think that I suspected Bradley Cooper would give himself a very grateful role but he's got perhaps an even more challenging one as he goes against his charming persona and is surprisingly good at conveying pathos without never being totally pathetic. For a directorial debut, the result is quite impressive and I envision at least four Oscar-nominations with a few technical nods such as Sound and Editing. I'm not sure Sam Elliott would get a nod but he was also a highlight in a film that full of them.
And beyond these Oscar considerations, even without watching the predecessors, "A Star is Born" does justice to the story, if not a masterpiece of originality, the performances are sincere and draw you into caring for every character and the songs memorable. What more could you ask for?