BRA-VO BRAD-LEY!

Rating: 10/10 (6 October 2018)

A Star is Born is an awesome freaking movie! Bradley Cooper is a certified Rock Star, and Lady Gaga will have people saying "Barbra who? Judy who? Janet who?" This movie, the 4th version of it, now officially belongs to Cooper and to Gaga, and to the ages. A phenomenal telling of the quintessential Hollywood story with a soundtrack that is unbelievable. Stay for the credits and shake your head at the sheer number of songs written and performed by Cooper and Gaga. I wasn't using a metaphor when I proclaimed Cooper a rock star! And he directed the damn film as well! First-time director? He must have had a hell of a crew to turn this out. Plus screenplay, music, producing, and performance? BRA-VO BRAD-LEY!
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, known professionally as Lady Gaga, has some acting chops, too. No question she was going to do a great job with the singing, I remember her national anthem performance as spectacularly moving, but she nailed her character straight up. Sometimes so subdued you might think she was waiting for her next song, sometimes so wonderfully over the top you KNEW Ally was going to be a star, but Gaga never missed a beat, never made me think she was just playing herself, never once made me cringe -- and that's about the highest compliment I can pay an actor. GO-GO GA-GA!
I cried a couple of times during this movie, I laughed more than once, I felt something throughout, and that's my definition of a good movie. It made me feel real emotion, a range of emotions in this case.
Well done, sir. Well played.