Cooper and Gaga bring audiences another worthy remake of this timeless romance
This week, the fourth official remake of A Star is Born will be released to a wide audience who I’m sure will find themselves moved and electrified by director/star Bradley Cooper’s take on the classic story of an unexpected romance found in the midst of dreams and ambition. This latest edition not only earns its right to exist through its execution, but continues to show the story’s universality. While the 30s version was a product of the golden age of Hollywood, the 50s and 70s versions did a good job of showcasing their era’s respective icons (Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand, for the one cinephile who doesn’t know) in their prime, allowing them to shed their images and be explored on a human level. Even the re-worked 90s version, Up Close and Personal starring Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer (which transplanted the story from the concert stage to the TV news desk), managed to perfectly capture the story’s continuously-relevant themes of primal love and human drive. With this version, Cooper and Lady Gaga add their own interpretation of the tale and in doing so, have created a movie experience which cannot help but resonate with audiences as much today as ever before.
A Star is Born focuses on a famous rock star named Jackson (Cooper), whose popularity is waning, thanks in large part to a growing dependency on pills and booze. When Jackson meets aspiring singer Ally (Gaga), he finds himself immediately smitten, as does she. Wanting to show the world what Ally can do, Jackson thrusts her onto the stage, leading her to a recording contract and immediate fame. As Ally’s stardom grows and Jackson’s descends, the two cling to their love as the stage and his demons threaten to tear them apart.
The pressure is on for Cooper as a first time director, with many eager to see if his choice of such a well-known, high profile project was the right one with which to begin his career behind the camera. It’s pretty safe to say that the results are more or less mixed. Cooper is clearly so in love with the material at hand, that he feels strangely obligated to savor every other moment on the screen until the life is nearly squeezed out of it. There’s a feeling the actor has studied the art of the slow-mo love scene to death as instances, including Ally’s close-up on a bar counter and Jackson’s eventual marriage proposal, are held so long that they end up losing their power. While this is a recurring problem in A Star is Born, it thankfully isn’t a dominant one. There’s an incredible gentleness to Cooper’s approach here and a genuine desire to explore both the characters and their journeys. What makes Cooper’s debut work is his ability to bring out the simple truth in each scene and say: “Let’s really talk about who these two people are.” One of the film’s best scenes involves Ally and Jackson in the parking lot of a grocery store following their impromptu first date. There are no grandiose angles or camera movements. Instead, Cooper lets the camera discover who the two figures on the screen are by simply watching and hearing them. It’s always obvious when a director is invested in the material he’s been tasked with bringing to the screen, and here, Cooper’s curiosity to find the essence of every scene never once wavers.
This version of A Star is Born wonderfully feels less like a studio-driven vehicle as much as a well-crafted document on the timelessness of this particular tale. A Star is Born is one of those rare scripts which offers up two great male and female protagonists. Both characters are fleshed out, complex and rich in the kind of aspirations and insecurities which invariably ring true to men and women alike from ambition and tenacity, to vulnerability and commitment. This is especially true in both characters’ relationship with success. There’s a feeling that Ally secretly shuns the idea of succeeding because she is afraid of it; afraid of whether or not she has what it takes to earn the kind of fame and acclaim found at the top of her field. Meanwhile, the demons plaguing Jackson can well be attributed to the failure of success where the levels of fame and adoration he’s achieved have proven overwhelming to the point that they are fueling his own self-destruction. It’s both these complex relationships with fame that makes watching Ally and Jackson’s relationship so compelling. The pair initially find each other while at opposite ends of the spectrum and watch their love bloom as they near one another in terms of profile. Eventually, the two find themselves where the other was when they first met. Seeing the two cling to their love and watching the power of their union hold them together throughout all of this is spectacularly poignant. Though they weather their own special storms, Jackson and Ally both continue to want each other. Most importantly however, they both want everything for each other.
Cooper gives a tremendously worthwhile performance here, even if his wavering accent signals one too many viewings of Kris Kristofferson’s take on the same character in the 1976 version. Despite this, the actor gets to be at most emotionally available and raw, playing not a character, but a man who literally wears the marks of his life on his sleeves. The real surprise for many however, will surely be Gaga. Like her famous predecessors, the singer/actress beautifully bears her soul playing a woman trying to hold onto everything that means anything to her. People often forget that Gaga began her professional career as a stage actress before being discovered by the music world. I have a feeling that once A Star is Born gets released to the masses, many will be in awe of the very real places Gaga is able to take Ally and the magic which happens as a result. A group of famous names support the two leads, yet it’s Sam Elliott as Jackson’s older brother Bobby, who soars the most. The final moments between the two of them are pure gold and impossible not to shed a tear at.
****Coming up on some spoilers, folks****
I’ve yet to comment on the music of A Star is Born; and for that, I apologize. Suffice it to say that the movie boasts one of the best soundtracks of the year, with the instant classic “Shallow,” emerging as a 21st century “Evergreen.” Not only does Cooper direct the concert moments with the right kind of pulsating energy, he also skillfully holds his own on bass, while mixing ferocity and soulfulness in all of his vocals. Gaga meanwhile foregoes the experimental beats which helped make her a name and re-emerges as the kind of 70s rock genius we always knew she could be. For me however, if there’s one memorable aspect of A Star is Born, it’s the belated revelation of the title’s double meaning. On the one hand, Ally is the star who is discovered and rises to the top thanks to her sheer will and talent. However in a way, Jackson’s eventual death makes him the actual star; a legend caught in time, forever watching down on the woman who will keep their love burning strong.
