A Star Is Born (2018)

I never would have dreamed that a fourth remake of A Star Is Born, by a first-time director in what is essentially a vanity production, co-starring a singer in her first leading role, would be one of the best films of the year. But this generation's version of A Star Is Born is terrific, if a little long, and has three great performances. Figure on lots of Oscar nominations. Bradley Cooper could get as many as six (but has four in the bag).

Of the three previous films I've only seen one, the 1937 version starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March. The second was in 1954, starring Judy Garland and James Mason. In these two films the professions of the characters were actors. In 1976, Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson switched it to popular music, where it is in this version. Cooper plays a rock star who kind of reminds me of a mix of John Mellencamp and Joe Walsh (though not nearly as old). He's popular enough to fill large venues, but when we first see him he's popping pills and drinking vodka as he goes on stage.

After that gig, he wants another drink, and his driver drops him off at the nearest bar, which happens to be for drag queens (I appreciated that Cooper is entirely comfortable drinking and chatting with the people there--there are no homosexual panic jokes). The only biological female that sings there is a waitress (Lady Gaga), and she knocks Cooper for a loop with a rendition of "La Vie en Rose." He's instantly smitten, and invites her to one of his concerts, where he pulls her on stage and she sings one of her songs.

Then the plot that has now served four films gets into gear--her career goes up, his goes down. When a venal manager (Rafi Gavron) takes her on as a client and starts to remake her ("We must do something about your hair") Cooper is both jealous and disgusted. When she wins a Grammy and he embarrasses both himself and her he goes to rehab. But is he standing in her way of success?

While this plot is predictable to anyone who has seen anyone of the films with this title, I admired how the script, by Cooper, Eric Roth, and Will Fetters, avoided cheap sentimentality. The first evening the two spend together has dialogue that is fresh and sharp (she slugs someone in a bar, so they go to the supermarket to buy frozen peas to put on her hand). The film is about three relationships: between Cooper and Gaga, between Cooper and his much older brother (Sam Elliot), and Gaga and her father (an unrecognizable Andrew Dice Clay--I had no idea it was him until the final credits). Each is handled with restraint. There are some big speeches, but it sounded like talking, not like writing.

Cooper is great as a man who has spent his life trying to live up to his father, and Gaga is a revelation. A check of IMDB shows a lot of TV credits, but I'm not sure if there's any acting involved. I don't know much about her music, but I know she's got a great voice and looks different every time she's on TV. Here she starts out as a pretty but scrubbed down woman who has been told her nose is too big to be a star (how did they resist putting a Streisand joke in there?) Her reactions to her stunningly quick rise seem genuine, and her character comes off as a person who will never forget her roots.

The third great performance is by Sam Elliot. There should be a rule in Hollywood: no movie gets made without Elliot in it. Elliot kind of has a special place in my heart. He was the star, almost fifty years ago, of a very bad horror movie called Frogs, that I saw when I was about ten. Back then I liked it so much I saw it twice.

As a director, Cooper makes some great choices on what he shows and doesn't show. His shot choices are almost always right. While this film could have used a trimming, I couldn't find an obvious place to go the bathroom (even during the musical numbers) so I held it in for almost the whole movie, which is a testament to its quality.

As for the music, when you make a movie about fictional music stars who are supposed to be popular it helps that the music is actually good, and A Star Is Born's soundtrack is great. Most of the songs were written by Gaga or Cooper (though none together, interestingly). "Shallows" is great, as well as "I'll Never Love Again." There's also a terrific version of "Oh, Pretty Woman," by Roy Orbison. I just may pick up the album. Oh, and since Cooper wrote at least two of the songs, he's eligible for six Oscar nominations: for producing, acting, directing, writing, and songwriting (they passed a rule a few years ago that only two songs from any one movie can be nominated). I think Lady Gaga will get the songwriting nominations and a Best Actress nomination, which I believe would set a record for most nominations by a woman in any one year.