Review | A Star is Born

   'A Star is Born' is Bradley Cooper's first directorial outing, as well as acting as producer and lead role, and tells of the story of Jackson Maine, a highly successful rock/country singer who is nearing the end of his career, slowly succumbing to alcoholism and tinnitus. On the back of a show, Maine stumbles upon a drag bar and watches the outstandingly talented Ally (Lady GaGa) sing. He takes Ally under his wing of sorts, and the two begin a romantic relationship; as she flourishes into stardom, his own begins to diminish, under the emotional strain of family relationships, illness and addiction.  

  Baring in mind that there are three adaptions of the familiar story, this is the first I have watched start to end, so it would be unfair to compare Cooper's film to any of the other adaptations. But Cooper has delivered here a film so intimate yet so electric, a film that packs emotional punch after emotional punch. Jackson is a very talented singer but it's acknowledged from the offset that this is not his heyday. His doughy eyes and gravelly voice are dishevelled after years of drinking in great quantity, he is very much a man on a downward slope. But Cooper's direction encourages you to route for him, rather than laugh at him. By the time we meet Lady GaGa's Ally in full theatrical mode, you see Jackson's curiosity peak, and the first sign of life returning to him. She gives him a hope that has somewhat vanished in a lifetime of trauma, from his mother's death to his alcohol addiction. 

  Speaking of GaGa, I have never seen her looking more natural and authentic. The first half of the film strips away her 'GaGa' demeanour, looking fresh faced with her freckles and (naturally?) brown hair. She pulls of a performance of a talented young woman riddled with insecurity of how the industry may perceive her, which strikes as a very fitting commentary for GaGa herself. Her soul is bare for all to see, including Jackson, and it undergoes a heavy transformation when she is on stage. But beneath the heavy bravado of Ally on stage, is a vulnerable woman struggling to adapt to a changing world around her. When it comes to the devastating final act, she delivers an emotional knockout of a performance that doesn't feel over the top or forced.
   Speaking of stage presence, Cooper does an excellent job at delivering live music to a cinema screen that gives you the full experience. The intimate camerawork follows both Jackson and Ally on stage to backstage fluidly, pumping the adrenaline through your veins as if you were at a live show. Match that with the fantastic soundtrack, blending Nashville-esque country tracks with familiar 'GaGa' pop songs that fill out the latter half of the film and you have the full package.

   As the narrative takes a sharp turn in Ally's rise to stardom, so does the soundtrack. We witness Ally's moulding of the 'perfect' pop star, how she should walk, sound, to even what colour her hair should be. At first she holds her ground, defying this change but soon it becomes hard to resist. The pop songs are catchy and are more in line with GaGa's previous discography, but they are so at odds with the rest of the album, it's safe to assume they are designed to sound generic and manufactured in comparison to the songs Ally writes at the start (and end) of the film. She still sounds flawless, and the ballads toward the end are some of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard GaGa sing. Her performance as singer and actress are balanced in equal measure and earns her status as one of the best vocalists on the planet right now. 

   Though GaGa may be the 'star' here, the movie belongs to Cooper through and through. He delivers a beautifully pained, nuanced performance that serves no malice or threat to anyone but himself. The slight ringing of the tinnitus is dotted throughout the film, to give you the aural signifier of Jackson's plight, and is heightened by Cooper's enunciation, he mumbles and growls his way through scene after scene, to encourage you to really listen and focus on what he is saying, a deliberate ploy in order to mirror his own experience. Sam Elliot also delivers a powerful, if brief, performance as Jackson's brother Bobby, who's had to care for Jackson all his life and keep him on the straight and narrow. The shared pain between the two brothers is astonishing, and Cooper emphasises this through that intimate camera work again. Elliot's performance should be a shoe-in for Best Supporting Actor next year. 

  Aside from being a tad over-long, Cooper delivers a near-perfect film that is fresh, engaging and an emotional powerhouse, showcasing a career-defining performance from himself opposite an incomparable Lady GaGa, that will surely make a dent in next year's Oscars. 

                             ★★★★