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   ![SL Film Review: A Star Is Born](/sites/sheerluxe/files/styles/max_800x800/public/articles/2018/10/star-born-film-review.jpg?itok=BcP8kqqr)

  

 

 



 

 

[TV &amp; Film](/culture/tv-film)

 /  04 October 2018  

#  SL Film Review: A Star Is Born  


It seems fitting Lady Gaga’s first major movie would be a musical – but there’s much more to A Star Is Born than the addictive soundtrack (seriously you won’t get these songs out of your head). Joining a line of legendary singer-actresses before her, Gaga’s performance in the new remake has set her up as Hollywood’s next big thing, and proves first-time director Bradley Cooper is a force to be reckoned with. Here’s why it’s well worth a trip to the cinema…  


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## **What’s the premise?**

A Hollywood tale almost as old as the industry itself, *A Star Is Born* relates the story of two lovers on dramatically differing paths: a famous man furiously racing to the bottom and a woman soaring to the top. Before the Cooper-Gaga take, it had three iterations – the 1937 classic, a Judy Garland remake in 1954, a 1976 Barbara Streisand revival – but Streisand’s musical bombed so badly at the box office, Cooper admitted he was warned against directing it by a number of close friends in the industry.  
  
But it seems Cooper’s directorial debut has broken the curse – a gorgeous heartbreaker of a film (bring tissues), it’s filled with all the romance, thrills and tear-jerking moments of its finer antecedents. His film follows seasoned country-rock musician Jackson Maine and he discovers, and falls in love with, struggling waitress-cum-singer Ally. She becomes his lover, partner and muse, and he coaxes her into the spotlight with him – but, as Ally’s career takes off, their relationship breaks down, as Jackson battles his personal demons.

## **Who else stars?**

Alongside Cooper (*American Sniper*, *The Hangover*, *Silver Linings Playbook*) as Maine and Gaga (*American Horror Story*, *Machete Kills*) as Ally, other cast members include Sam Elliott (*Road House, The Big Lebowski*) as Maine’s older brother Bobby; comedian Dave Chappelle as his friend Noodles; and Andrew Dice Clay (*Blue Jasmine*, *Pretty in Pink*) as Ally’s larger-than-life father, Lorenzo. *RuPaul’s Drag Race* star DJ ‘Shangela’ Pierce also makes an appearance as an Emcee in the drag bar where Maine and Ally first meet.

 

 

 



 

 

 

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## **What are critics saying?**

It’s been met with rave reviews pretty much across the board. The *New York Times* called it “old-fashioned, big-feeling cinema”, the *Washington Post* “big, wide and deep”, not just due to its large-scale production value, but because of “the emotional resonance of the screenplay and the spellbinding power of the performances”. Variety described it as a “total emotional knockout”, and a movie that “gets you to believe, at every step, in the complicated rapture of the story it's telling”.  
  
Gaga’s compelling lead performance has also really got the press talking – musicians rarely make the move from songs to cinema successfully, but *A Star Is Born* shows just how talented she is as an actress. The *Guardian* called her “glittering”

##    
**Did SL rate it?**

We’ll caveat this section by saying that if you seriously *hate* musicals, or cheese of any kind, this probably isn’t the film for you – it’s cliché, melodramatic and filled with catchy songs. But that’s also where the movie’s beauty lies: *A Star Is Born* defies the phrase “they don’t make ‘em like they used to” – the sweeping romance of Old Hollywood flicks, the bordering-on-satire dramatic moments in 80s classics, the absolute powerhouse of a soundtrack (we wouldn’t expect anything less from Gaga).  
  
Aside from the captivating story, the music was our personal highlight – look out for it on Spotify when it’s released on the 5th. An original score created by Gaga and Cooper alongside a wealth of musicians, it spans all-American country written with singer-songwriter Lukas Nelson to powerhouse and Gaga’s longtime collaborator DJ White Shadow (*Born This Way*, *Artpop*). It’s so good, in fact, Bradley Cooper has made his US Billboard chart debut with the song ‘Shallow’ – a duet with Gaga that debuted at number 14 thanks to a mass of digital sales (if, like us, you were sceptical of his vocal prowess, you’ll be impressed).  
   
A Star Is Born *is showing at cinemas now*

 

 

 

 

  

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