A Star Is Born

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Elyse M well done, believable characters, but for me, it was just a little flat. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 12/25/24 Full Review Stef One of the best movies and soundtracks of all time. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/01/24 Full Review iris It was actually 'A Star Is Born' (1976) with Barbra Streisand & Krist Krisrofferson. This was the best version. Way better than the 2018 Lady Gaga. I LOVE Barbra Streusand. Music was wonderful. Acting wonderful. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/23/24 Full Review K S I watched this in the movie theater during its initial release and had an even more emotional reaction during a second watch at home 7 years later. I could write a thesis about this film but I don’t have the time. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper are perfect. The fact that people struggle with mental illness to the extent they want to harm themselves should be a wake up call for everyone. The Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/12/25 Full Review BRizz 2 A Star Is Born is a truly beautiful film—deeply emotional, masterfully directed, and powerfully written. While the story has been told through multiple versions over the years, each adaptation brings something unique, and this 2018 rendition stands out as one of the best. Despite following the same general storyline, it manages to feel fresh, poignant, and deeply moving. Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga deliver absolutely exceptional performances. Cooper not only directed the film with remarkable sensitivity, but his portrayal of Jackson Maine feels raw and heartbreakingly real. His vocals add authenticity, grounding the character in a very human place. Lady Gaga, in particular, is a standout. Her performance is nothing short of phenomenal—emotionally layered, vocally flawless, and utterly convincing from beginning to end. It’s truly disappointing that the Oscars overlooked her in the Best Actress category, because her work in this film deserved far more recognition. “Shallow” is an iconic song that will continue to resonate with audiences for generations to come. Seeing familiar faces like Shangela and Willam brought a fun, unexpected energy to the film. Knowing them personally, it was surreal to see them on screen—especially with Willam being just as chaotic and hilarious as he is in real life. Overall, A Star Is Born is a stunning, emotional experience that showcases the heights of talent and storytelling. It’s heartfelt, it’s tragic, and it’s unforgettable. I highly recommend it to anyone—it’s a modern classic that absolutely deserves all the praise it’s received. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 07/10/25 Full Review Matthew D Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s acting and singing carries the movie that feels too sporadic in style to be entirely engaging. Sam Elliott is sublime however. Director Bradley Cooper’s music romance drama A Star Is Born (2018) is both beautiful and unwieldy. Cooper’s direction provides an intimate feeling to each scene, but his sporadic style feels like we’re just brief vignettes in his characters’ lives, rather than a complete story. Writers Bradley Cooper, Will Fetters, and Eric Roth take the classic story of A Star Is Born and bring it into modern setting. The alcoholic country singer discovering a young talent, who becomes a pop star is interesting in itself, but there really has to be more. I kept thinking I was just watching Gaga be herself rather than a character by the time Ally is doing pop and Bradley Cooper just feels like he’s doing an impression of Sam Elliott’s voice mixed with Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart. There’s so many awkward scenes like the drag bar introduction, brisk wedding, pop rehearsals, and all the strange turns. It’s at times a great film that moved me with spellbinding acting performances and mesmerizing singing. But, then certain scenes pulled me out of it completely. I prefer the Janet Gaynor original film that’s just a moving drama about getting your life ruined by Hollywood. This is a story that has been told many times before and better. Cooper’s version has many of the problems that Judy Garland’s film did too as she is so transcendent like Lady Gaga, but the movie itself jumps around so much that it’s hard to get invested in it totally. Bradley Cooper updates A Star Is Born with hints of Walk the Line, Crazy Heart, Country Strong, and Valley of the Dolls. I thought of Sonny and Cher’s whirlwind romance and issues too. Bradley Cooper delivers searing guitar solos and strong vocals as the gruff and drunken country singer Jackson Maine. It’s a great performance that feels raw and real. Maybe the most I’ve been impressed by Cooper’s acting in general. His alcoholic act starts to feel like leftovers from a music biopic though as we’ve all seen this a billion times by now. I like how his character can be mean and blunt to feel like a different guy like in the arguing scenes. He starts out so gentle and kind, then devolves into his sorrows that he’s drinking away. Lady Gaga is fantastic as the endearing young singer-songwriter Ally Campana, who goes from earnest country hopeful to pop starlet. Gaga starts out very moving and engaging, then starts to feel too similar to her own pop persona as Ally becomes a pop icon. Her powerful vocals, gentle piano playing, and dramatic performance is wonderful though. Lady Gaga has real talent and clearly worked so hard on all the acting, singing, playing, and dancing. Sam Elliott is phenomenal as Jackson’s older brother Bobby Maine in a very grounded and touching performance of grit and grief. His every word had me captivated in one of the strongest supporting actor performances I’ve ever seen. Andrew Dice Clay is unrecognizable as Ally’s old drunk father Lorenzo Campana. He’s pretty good. Dave Chappelle shows up for some reason as Jackson’s old friend Noodles. What a ridiculous miscasting as I laughed when I saw him. Rafi Gavron is terrible as the boring music producer Rez Gavron, who starts to manage Ally’s pop career in the most obvious ways. Anthony Ramos is awful as the ludicrous friend of Ally’s named Ramon. They all feel so out of place in this movie. Brandi Carlile, Marlon Williams, and Alec Baldwin get short cameos too, so that’s neat I guess. Editor Jay Cassidy’s random cutting feels so sporadic and disjointed. It was hard to care about a lot of things as we have huge jumps in time constantly. Cinematographer Matthew Libatique has all these tender close-up and medium shots. However, I did not care for the blocking or the shaky camerawork that is insanely distracting. It’s supposed to feel more organic I’m sure, but it kept me from really engaging. Why was this 136 minutes long with such a scarce story? It feels interminable. Overall, I just enjoyed Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, and Sam Elliott’s acting more than the film itself. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/10/25 Full Review Read all reviews

A Star Is Born

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