Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Actor; Bradley Cooper, Best Actress; Lady Gaga, Best Supporting Actor; Sam Elliott, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Original Song "Shallows" (written by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, and Andrew Wyatt).
Won: Best Original Song "Shallows" (written by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, and Andrew Wyatt).
A Star Is Born strums alongside the seasoned musician Jackson Maine as he discovers and falls in love with a struggling artist. Ally has just about given up on her dream to make it big as a singer until Jackson coaxes her into the spotlight, helping her find fame as age and alcoholism send his career into a downward spiral.
Hot off the festival circuit, A Star Is Born has officially kicked off awards season as one of the first significant contenders to hit theaters. Believe it or not, but the melodramatic musical directed by Bradley Cooper is the third remake of A Star Is Born. In addition to making his feature directorial debut, Bradley Cooper produces, co-writes, and stars in the romantic musical, proving to be equally talented in front of and behind the camera. Though I haven't seen earlier incarnations of A Star Is Born, the plot felt very familiar. As the fourth iteration of this classic story, A Star Is Born can't help but be a bit formulaic. That's not a bad thing per say, but the film often seemed to be going through the motions.
By extension, the pacing is off at times, and you begin to feel the length of the two-hour fifteen-minute runtime. The film rushes at the start and drags in the second act, but everything's just right towards the end. The film's tragic conclusion, unfortunately, didn’t emotionally register with me though because ironically, I found the relationship between Jackson and Ally to be a bit shallow at points. Cutting straight to the chase, I thought A Star Is Born fell short of its insurmountable hype, but that's not to say it was underwhelming per say. I liked it, didn't love it.
With that being said, I appreciated about everything else in A Star Is Born. Perhaps, most of all would be how the narrative and filmmaking offered an honest glimpse at the pleasures and perils of the rockstar life. The camera frequently invades the actor's personal space for intimate close-ups and the sound mix is often suited to the environment during musical numbers, making the experience all the more immersive (though I'm not entirely sure if the sound mix was optimized specifically for the Dolby format or not). Whatever the case, you often feel as though you're actually at one of Jackson Maine's rock concerts as he jams out to "Black Eyes" or inside the run-down bar when Lady Gaga belts "La Vie En Rose," and that amplifies the entire experience to an eleven. Kudos to the sound team on that!
On that note, the soundtrack features almost entirely original music with a wide variety of stylings from an extensive collaboration of artists including Cooper, Gaga, and Lukas Nelson. Perhaps, the highest praise for the soundtrack is that it works in the context of the film and sounds like an assortment of songs you might hear on the radio. Off the top of my head, I'd say "Shallow" is currently my favorite track. It's fun to sing along with and pleasant to the ear.
If there's one point I must belabor, it's that Cooper and Gaga are sensational. Their interactions are authentic from start-to-finish on account of their endearing dynamic. Of course, the music plays to Gaga's strengths as a performer while the acting caters to Cooper's wheelhouse, but I was surprised to see Gaga communicate such unabashed raw emotion and hear Cooper nail the grungy country-rock vocals. I was impressed that one never overshadowed the other. Filling the supporting cast, Sam Elliott and Dave Chappelle each have fleeting, but impactful screentime.
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