An emotional movie with great performances! 6/10

Rating: 6/10 (17 February 2019)

Review:
With the Oscars just around the corner, I thought that I should watch this movie because it's tipped to win the big categories. I was expecting a romantic chick flick, but it actually turned out to be quite emotional and very well written. The chemistry between Ally (Lady Gaga) and Jack (Bradley Cooper), was excellent, and very believable, but I couldn't really get into the music. That's not to say that it wasn't performed well, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. I remember watching the Barbra Streisand version at a young age, so I had an idea about the concept, but I was still surprised with this adaptation, mainly because of the outstanding performances from these two A-list stars. The fact that Bradley Cooper also directed this picture, and performed the songs alongside Gaga, makes it a great achievement, which is why it made such a big profit at the box office. Anyway, if you haven't seen any of the previous A Star Is Born movies, it's about a famous country music singer, Jackson "Jack" Maine (Bradley Cooper), whose privately battling an alcohol and drug addiction. His main support is his manager, and older half-brother Bobby (Sam Elliott), who tries to keep Jack's personal problems under wraps. After a show in California, Jack visits a drag bar where he witnesses a performance by Ally (Lady Gaga), who's a waitress and singer-songwriter. Jack is amazed by her performance and they end up spending the night together, where Ally talks about the troubles she has faced in pursuing a professional music career. Ally goes to Jack's next concert, and with Jack's encouragement, she sings on stage with him, and they form a romantic relationship. Ally goes with Jack on tour, where she meets a record producer called Rez (Rafi Gavron), who offers her a contract. Jack supports her decision, and Rez refocuses Ally away from country music and towards pop. Jack misses one of Ally's performances after he passes out drunk in public. He recovers at the home of his best friend George (Dave Chappelle) and later makes up with Ally. There he proposes to Ally, and they get married that same day at a church ministered by a relative of George. During Ally's performance on Saturday Night Live, Bobby reconciles with Jack. Later, Jack and Ally fight after he drunkenly voices his disapproval of Ally's new image and music, which is nominated for three Grammy Awards. At the Grammy's, a visibly intoxicated Jack performs in a tribute to Roy Orbison, and Ally wins the Best New Artist award. When she goes up on stage to receive her award, Jack follows her, where he wets himself and passes out. Ally's father Lorenzo (Andrew Dice Clay) helps him sober up, and Jack joins a rehabilitation program shortly thereafter. Jack recovers in rehab for about two months, where he discloses to his counsellor that he attempted suicide when he was 13 and that he has been suffering from tinnitus, which has been getting worse. Ally wishes to bring Jack to perform with her on the European leg of her tour, but Rez refuses, prompting Ally to cancel the remainder of the tour so she can care for jack. Rez later confronts Jack, accusing him of holding her back. That evening, Ally lies to Jack and tells him that her record label has cancelled her tour so she can focus on her second album. Jack promises that he will come to her concert that night, but after Ally leaves, he hangs himself in their garage. It's definitely a touching story which shows how fame can destroy individuals, even though it looks like they have everything a person could want. I did find myself getting quite emotional when Ally was performing the tribute to her husband at the end, mainly because of Gaga's amazing journey throughout the movie. Although it's not the type of movie that you can watch time and time again, it's still worth a watch, even if you're into your action movies. Just make sure that you have a box of tissues to hand! Watchable!
Round-Up:
This is the first movie directed by Bradley Cooper, and he has produced Limitless, Silver Linings Playbook, The Words, American Hustle, American Sniper, which he has also starred in. He also produced War Dogs, starring Jonah Hill and Miles Teller, but he didn't star in that film. For his directional debut, he certainly did a great job, by adapting the original screenplay to the present day. The only fault that I found with the film was that it occasionally seemed to jump from one scene to another, without much explanation, but I can understand that it would have made the movie about 3 hours long, which would have been a bit too much.
Budget: $36million
Worldwide Gross: $420.5million
Genre: Drama, Music, Romance
Cast: Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Sam Elliott, Andrew Dice Clay, Rafi Gavron, Anthony Ramos, Dave Chappelle and Alec Baldwin. 6/10