Looking Back at 2010s Films: A Star is Born (2018)

By Tanner Smith

I knew “Black Panther” wouldn’t get the Best Picture Oscar this year, so there had to be another nominee I could root for that would probably win. My choice: Bradley Cooper’s “A Star is Born.” (Actually, I had two; the other was Alfonso Cuaron’s excellent “Roma.”)

“A Star is Born” is the kind of rags-to-riches story the Academy loves to recognize, and for “A Star is Born,” I see no flaw in their recognition. This is a REALLY good film, proving that it doesn’t matter how many times you’ve seen a familiar story as long as it’s presented in a fresh, different way that still has us applauding afterwards. You know the story for “A Star is Born”–a famous celebrity meets a struggling performer and gives her time to shine, thus causing her star to rise and his own to fall.

In this case, we have Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper, who also directed the film), a famous country-rock star who plays his heart out to thousands of fans who still love him even when he’s past his prime. He’s his own worst enemy, very weary and consistently drunk, like a lot of sad successes. But he’s there to hear aspiring singer-songwriter Ally (Lady Gaga) sing at a bar–he goes backstage to meet her, they spend a nice evening together, they even collaborate on a new song together, and it seems like that’s the end of it, right?

Wrong. Jack is captivated by Ally and isn’t going to forget about her so easily. He invites her to his next show, where she’ll stand in the wings…and he begins to play the song she wrote with him that night. He gestures for her to come onstage and join in, and though she’s hesitant…she does. She sings her heart out and amazes everyone in the audience.

Thus…a star is born.

This entire first act of the film, which is about 45 minutes in a two-hour-10-minute movie, is wonderful. First of all, the song Jack sings in the opening (“Black Eyes”) is incredible (and I’m not a music critic–though I like to think I have good taste) and lets you know what this guy is all about, as does the following scene which shows what he’s like OFFstage as he simply tells his chauffeur he just wants to go somewhere to get a drink. Second of all, when he and Ally converse, it feels like they genuinely share a connection–they are both listening to each other. Ally knows the guy is famous and she is afraid he’s there just to pick her up, but she does let her guard down when she sees the guy is pretty OK. This is the highlight of the film for me–Cooper and Gaga feel like real people sharing a relationship together. And third, when Ally goes up onstage and sings with Jack, it’s a magical cinematic moment that rivals such moments from previous versions of a similar story.

Oh, and the song they play together is “Shallow.” I know everyone’s tired of this song, and so am I. But as with “Frozen” and its overplayed single “Let It Go,” I can’t let the fact that it’s overplayed get in the way of what a solid song it is. (Though, I would like to hear other good songs from the soundtrack as well–there are a few more that deserve recognition too.)

The rest of the film is pretty solid and powerful too, as we see Ally go through the usual BS of what it means to make it in the entertainment business. Even when she doesn’t understand it, she can’t bring herself to question it all to her manager (well-played by Rafi Gavron) because it’s her time to shine and she’s been waiting for it! But we also see Jack’s fall from stardom, as he just gets worse with alcoholism and loses himself…and his brother/PR-manager (Sam Elliott). (The scene in which Elliott gets into an intense fight with Cooper is heartbreaking and shows some of Elliott’s finest moments as an actor.) Because we’ve gotten to know Jack and Ally so well, we want to see everything go well for them…and we feel very bad when they don’t.

Speaking of which, I missed the confrontation between Ally and her manager for practically instigating the tragic action that ends the story–that a-hole needed to get his; I hope she fired his ass.

Lady Gaga is wonderful as Ally. I’ve already known she could sing, I DEFINITELY already know she had confidence as a performer, and now I know she can act. And act well. Cooper is also great–I already knew HE could act, but now he’s delivered what I think is his most impressive work. (And he’s also a hell of a good director, as it turns out.)

“A Star is Born” is above all a film about love and connecting–from the loveliness of meeting someone special for the first time to the bittersweet stages of a progressing romance to the sad moments where one brings the other down one way or another to…well, I won’t go into that. I cared about this movie because I cared for these two characters. And I’m always down for a film about a special relationship between two interesting people.