4th incarnation

Rating: 7/10 (13 July 2019)

And for its fourth incarnation unless you count What Price Hollywood, the story
of A Star Is Born is getting its fourth remake. Back in the 70s when it was made
for a third time by Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson the setting was changed from the motion picture industry to the music industry.
It remains so in this film which stars Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. Cooper is
a country/western singer who is starting the downside of his career and he
meets a young aspiring performer Lady Gaga who works in a hotel restaurant
and has just about given up her aspirations for a singing career. But when
Cooper and his entourage hear her she becomes a project for him.
If you've seen any or all of the other A Star Is Borns than you'll know some of
the key scenes already. The plot follows the same path it did with the other
three versions.
The beauty of this and the other films is that the story and the performances
in all of them are so good that even if you have seen the other versions the
film still grabs you. If you haven't seen other versions so much the better.
Lady Gaga was hired as a singer primarily, but she does show enough acting
chops to warrant a nomination for Best Actress, matched by Cooper for Best
Actor and Sam Elliott as Cooper's manager for Best Supporting Actor. A Star
Is Born also was nominated for Best Picture and a flock of other nominations
as well. It won for the original song Shallow.
I doubt this will be the last remake, but it will do well until another in the
next 10 to 40 years comes along.