A STAR IS BORN

/ Benn Bell

A Stra is Born

Who needs another remake? It turns out we do. As a rule, I generally eschew remakes. In this case I made an exception. The trailer looked good so I gave it a chance. And friends, I am glad I did. This film is fresh and original in its interpretation. Bradley Cooper proves himself an adept director and makes a lot of smart choices in the presentation of this material. Lady Gaga is a wonder. The thing about Gaga for me has been she always wears a mask and we never get to see the real person behind the persona. Here we do. A very satisfying portrayal of an insecure character with a lot of personality and a load of talent.

Bradley Cooper is very good as the alcoholic country rock star who is in decline and fighting his own demons. The chemistry between the stars is palpable and their love story believable.

I liked the camera work and the production values are superb. It’s not an unqualified success, but Bradley Cooper hits this one out of the ball park. Two thumbs way up!

11 thoughts on “A STAR IS BORN”

  2. Benn, I have seen this twice already. Thanks for your great “2 thumb’s up” review!
    I don’t think about the other three original takes on this. (My parents loved Judy Garland version. They did go to see Streisand-Kristofferson version.)
    I get so absorbed into this one, feel much of the conflicting emotions of hope, gratitude and decline of a relationship due to the powers of addiction.
    I have loved Lady Gaga since she became friends with Tony Bennett. They made the 🌠🌠🌠🌠 best Christmas album. When they made joint interviews, you could see his respect for her and her true admiration for him. They “talk” Italian food. It was great that they kept their friendship since he is a singer I have mainly heard wonderful things about. Not self-centered. Not a womanizer, or so my memory says so.
    Although gross and often horror filled, Lady Gaga showed her acting talent in the American Horror Story set in the antiquated Hotel setting. I forget if this was 2017 or 2016.
    Bradley Cooper took eight months to learn guitar, piano and vocal lessons. He joked with his friend, Willie Nelson’s son, “Hey, don’t you think I did good?” He responded deadpan, “A 4 out of 10!”
    Lady and Bradley both say theirs was a palpable and deep connection between them. They met and both knew it was a good partnership for filming. They “look” in love. I went with my youngest daughter and we both cried, I went with a good female friend and we sobbed. She spent all day researching the other versions and only one of the three (she says) has an accident instead of a different ending. Hope not to give the ending away to readers here.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  7. When this came out I had my fingers crossed. I was hoping Cooper and Lady Gaga could pull this off. I knew Cooper made an excellent choice bringing her in but I wasn’t sure if she could act.

    As you mentioned, the chemistry was perfect. Loved the story line and Cooper was perfect in creating the broken character. The music was top notch. In fact their performance during the Academy Awards was one of the best I have seen in years.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment