Review: A Star Is Born | 3 ½  out of 4 Stars

A Star Is Born | 3 ½  out of 4 Stars | Rated R

By Kyle Osborne

I’m several days late in posting a review of A Star IS Born, which currently has a favorable score of 91% on RottenTomatoes.com, and certainly doesn’t need any help from me.

However, I will mildly dissent and say that it’s very good, but I’m a little leery of October coronations for the year’s Best Picture. This is the 4^th and best version of the film, the others being from 1937, 1954, and 1976, especially compared to the Streisand and Kristofferson iteration from the Bicentennial year, which seemed unrealistic. Yes, actual musicians…like, really successful ones, didn’t seem quite right for the setting. It’s kind of hard to watch now.

By contrast, Bradley Cooper, who stars and directed this new one, is an accomplished actor who has a good enough voice to pass as a real musician. Guitarists might quibble with the way he uses his ring finger for notes that you’d normally play with your index or middle finger, but for a movie, he pulls it off.

And Lady GaGa already has the pipes—the question going in was does she have the acting chops? In a word, yes. She has this Liza Minnelli thing going on with her mouth that’s kinda cute, and she knows how to emote. I just read today (speaking of Streisand) that she’s going to star in the Broadway revival of Funny Girl, which I think she will absolutely crush—can’t wait to see that.

I will spare you the synopsis, which you can read from any of these reviews here, but I just wanted to give my two cents: he’s great, she’s great, the story is…well, kind of a shopworn tale by now, being honest. I skimmed a review that mentioned how the first hour is great and then…well, then it sort of goes into the clichéd bits. That’s exactly how I felt, but that first night that they hang out together in the film’s first act (without sleeping together!) is just about perfect.

Also, this version benefits from some great supporting actors like Sam Elliot and—are you ready for this? Andrew Dice Clay and Dave Chappelle! That’s right, Cooper directs his ass off, getting naturalistic performances from two veteran stand-up comedians.

I swear I will keep posting this pic of Bradley Cooper and me until I’m dead. Why not?

Kyle Osborne

And the songs are way better than they have to be. And perfectly performed and filmed.

But it’s only October, and I’m waiting for the 4 star films to come.