‘A Star Is Born’ remake hits powerful, passionate notes
Let’s get to the biggest “A Star Is Born” question marks first.
Yes, Bradley Cooper is a fine singer, not as polished as say, Keith Urban, but the Oscar nominee can croon country with a soul-stirring ache lodged in his voice. He can even handle a guitar, thank you very much.
And yes, Lady Gaga, is a bona fide actress, a legit best-actress contender. That’s not a shock since she vamped it up so bloody well on FX Networks’ “American Horror Story: Hotel,” for which she won a Golden Globe Award.
It is their passionate romantic back-and-forth that makes Cooper’s 2018 version soar to greater heights than the 1976 schmaltzy guilty pleasure with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. On screen, the GagaCooper matchup burns hot, firing up the screen with earthy, sexy chemistry — the kind that actors kill for.
As Ally, a stuck-in-a-dead-end-job New Yorker who slays it onstage in a drag queen bar, Gaga takes ownership of the screen. She is fierce and electric, nailing with authority the emotion and chutzpah of Ally.
It helps that Ally is no starry-eyed innocent. She’s a complicated, brassy person who doesn’t do the “right thing” but is loyal and supportive — to a fault. When the disheveled (but hot) fading country superstar Jackson “Jack” Maine (Cooper) winds up in the bar, sloshed on pills and booze, a connection happens that upends both lives.
The instant Jack locks eyes with Ally while she’s performing, he’s a goner — a great movie moment captured by the leads and director Cooper. So is she.
It’s a kinetic connection that smolders throughout the movie until … well, if you’ve seen the Streisand-Kristofferson version, or the 1954 Judy GarlandJames Mason one, or perhaps the 1937 Janet Gaynor-Fredric March original, you know it’s not going to end well.
With so many redos, why does this relatively simple story keep capturing the hearts of generations? It might be because it depicts a fearless, absolute and committed love, one that is
put through the wringer as one career skyrockets and the other comes crashing down.
Cooper’s version triumphs for many reasons, especially in how it has a lived-it feel when it comes to portraying the snakepit of addiction.
Jack is a mess and Cooper the actor and co-screenwriter doesn’t sugarcoat that fact. We see the man trapped in his plight, humiliating himself and others. His stumbling and slurring, his descending fame and his family’s unhappy backstory conspire against him, leading to volcanic tirades. One exchange goes too far and splinters a steadfast relationship he has had with his loyal brother/manager Bobby (Sam Elliott).
Ally sticks it out, even as she strikes out on her own and is transformed
into a pop sensation.
Music plays a central role, of course, and the songs performed by both stars are not just essential but sensational. Gaga’s goose-pimple-inducing grand slam of a showstopper, “I’ll Never Love Again,” and the duet “Shallow” are the standouts. (Gaga, Cooper and Lukas Nelson, Jason Isbell and Mark Ronson wrote the original songs.) All are naturally anchored around the sharp screenplay by Eric Roth (“Forrest Gump”), Cooper and Will Fetters.
This “Star” isn’t perfect. There’s a little too much of everything and the pacing falters every now and then. Even a few of the smaller moments spent with well-written supporting characters such as Ally’s proud father (Andrew Dice Clay), Jack’s pal (Dave Chappelle) and Ally’s lovable friend (Anthony Ramos) might have been sacrificed.
Somehow, though, the bloat is almost appropriate in a story about excesses and the devastating pitfalls of fame.
“A Star Is Born” portrays both poignantly, movingly well.