Birth of Good Director, Actress

Every few decades or so, Hollywood remakes the 1937  A Star is Born. The latest is a Bradley Cooper – Lady Gaga vehicle. At this point, it has become a tradition, and we should very well expect another one in the 2030s or 40s, at the latest.

The remakes more or less replay the same plots but with different actors and time periods. There is even a recurring line, “just wanted to take another look at you.”

Thus, it would not be much of a spoiler to mention the plot outline of this movie, since A Star is Born’s remakes have evolved to be less about the storyline and more about performances and dialogues that can evoke excitement as well as sadness in one brief moment.

All iterations of Star are about two people that fall in love under the spotlight of fame. The male protagonist always initially starts out as rich and famous but dissatisfied and a drunk too, to boot.

They always meet by chance and fall in love. At some point, the woman starts to sing with the guy, is noticed by promoters and shoots to stardom: the star is born. Inevitably, as in almost any other movie ever made, the guy becomes jealous, but still loving. The drinking continues though until it gets to the point that it begins to harm the career of the woman.

After a very bad faux pas by the male protagonist – in the 1954 remake he slaps her at an awards ceremony and, on this one, pisses his pants on-stage with her – he proves his love after learning that he is nothing but trouble. The guy ultimately commits suicide.

The 2018 remake conforms to these story guidelines but impresses in its ability to successfully examine fame, hope, disappointment, hate and addiction. The surprisingly honest and up to par performance by Lady Gaga is just as impressive.

Jackson Maine (Bradley) is a famous rock star who after a concert one day wonders purposelessly into a drag bar. There, amongst the performers in drags, he meets Ally (Lady Gaga). They quickly hit it off. Currently, working as a waitress, she is a talented musician who nonetheless was never been afforded a chance at stardom because producers thought her nose was too big. Jackson does not think so.

He invites her to a concert and then asks her to sing on stage. She does, and her performance goes viral. Soon she is in demand. Jackson is a little jealous but still loving. The drinking – and some coke here and there – does not stop though.

One night, at a Grammy ceremony, where Ally wins, he gets on stage with her only to piss in his pants while the rest of the world is watching. His bad behaviour, her career and the love both feel for each other becomes his ultimate dilemma.

The movie owes its charm to Cooper, for whom this is a directorial debut, and has had a run in with alcoholism by his own admission, and of course Lady Gaga. Few could have predicted that Cooper’s career would take such an interesting turn given the movie that shot him to stardom, The Hangover.

But in Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle and American Sniper, he proved his more dramatic side. He never starred in a great movie, and he never gave a performance that could be considered exceptional. But his sheer dedication and screen chemistry with supporting actors were always on display.

In Star, he proves his ability to conjure the appropriate atmosphere for a movie and draw outstanding performances from actors. Passing judgement based on a single movie is risky, but I am convinced that he has already joined Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson and Ben Affleck in successfully transitioning from a popular actor to a respectable director.

Lady Gaga’s performance is even more surprising than Cooper’s turn as a director. Never would I have thought she would make for a passable actor nor would she be interested in such ventures. She carries her character with pride and frankness.

It is liberating to see an actress play a character without worrying about appearacnce – Lady Gaga proudly talks about having a nose with above-average size, which society does not consider part of mainstream beauty. The movie also hints at how depressingly the music industry operates, where the talented and sophisticated never make it, while the beautiful and theatrical, like, let us face it, Lady Gaga, do.

Remakes are tiring and should be shunned away from. But there are exceptions. This remake is not as good as the Judy Garland-James Mason vehicle of the same name. But this upgrades the Star brand to the 21st century, and does as such with nuance and charm.

If Cooper’s next directorial work is half as good, then he will have earned my premature inclusion of him in the Eastwood-Gibson-Affleck pantheon.


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