A Star is Born Review: Lady Gaga is Taking the Film Industry by Storm | Teen Ink

A Star is Born Review: Lady Gaga is Taking the Film Industry by Storm

December 18, 2018
By Mitchell18 BRONZE, Pewaukee, Wisconsin
Mitchell18 BRONZE, Pewaukee, Wisconsin
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

The smash hit A Star is Born, directed by Bradley Cooper, shows a truly breathtaking love story but also the dark side of a man struggling with addiction. Whether you like drama, romance, musical movies this film is so much more than any other movie about being a popstar in today's society. The triple threat, Lady Gaga, who plays the lead role of Ally, portrayed her in a beautiful way perfectly embodying someone who initially struggles to make a name for herself in the music industry but eventually gets discovered. A Star is Born is Gaga’s first feature film and I'm excited to see what's to come from Gaga! Bradley Cooper who plays Jackson Maine, shows us in a raw and emotional way the realities of alcoholism, as renowned actor Cooper once again blows us all away with unforgettable acting.

The soundtrack for this film was outstanding, with direct collaboration from Cooper and Gaga themselves. This was a very smart decision because they knew their characters the best and how they were feeling at any given moment, this helped set the perfect mood for any part in the film. During the song “I'll Never Love Again” performed by Ally in the final moments of the film, I felt the pain in her words “Don't wanna feel another touch, Don't wanna start another fire, Don't wanna know another kiss, No other name falling off my lips, Don't wanna give my heart away, To another stranger” The music kept me constantly captivated and interested. Speaking more on Bradley Cooper's vocals, I was pleasantly surprised. Cooper is not a renowned singer like Gaga so I worried for the soundtrack, whether or not his vocals would bring down the rest of the album. But that couldn't have been farther than false, Cooper nicely accented Gaga’s vocals very well and gave us tight harmonies in songs like “Shallow”, Ally's first original song.

The beginning of the movie immediately introduces us to Jackson Maine, a singer-songwriter country rock star who is an alcoholic and drug addict addicted to painkillers. And Ally a nameless singer-songwriter, work a 9 to 5 dead end job with dreams of making it big. After one of Jacksons shows he downs a bottle of vodka in the back seat of a limo and downs the last of his painkillers. He then continues to tell his driver to take him to the nearest bar after already having one to many drinks. At this point Jackson Maine locks eyes with Ally while she's singing in a drag bar, and instantly falls in love with her. He knew exactly what he wanted, and he wanted her.

The beginning of the movie started off very slow and very quickly lost my attention. This was due to the very drawn out beginning and boring plot, it was all so predictable and felt inevitable that they would fall in love. Bradley Cooper's direction at the beginning of the movie could've used some improvements with the pace of the movie. It was so slow I lost my attention and instantly made me have a bad view of the movie already in the first 20 minutes. I found myself almost falling asleep within the first 30 minutes.

My feelings towards the movie very quickly changed from a boring romance movie, to a thrilling and very raw drama. Specifically at the point when Jackson pulls aspiring Ally onstage to sing her original song. When Ally first stepped on stage everyone in the movie theater could feel her trembling and her body filled with anxiety. As she let out the first note from “Shallows” the jaws of the audience dropped in awe and instantly launched her into the powerful world of social media, getting her name recognized by millions. When Jackson did this it made me feel so emotional, knowing how powerful of a singer she is, it was unsettling to see her in the beginning just singing at a drag bar. She deserved more and deserved to be discovered and at this point, she finally made it.

As the movie draws to an end Ally is getting bigger and bigger and Jackson's world is very quickly crashing. With Ally thriving and becoming an international popstar I became less interested and a little upset. It felt almost too cliche for the powerful writing of the beginning of the film. It made me angry how she lost root of her old ways and was encapsulated into the pop world. Although I did feel for Jackson at this moment and helped me understand him as an individual more.

Although this part made me feel bothered the acting during the whole last 30 minutes of the movie were impeccable. I felt as if I were watching a documentary and this movie is based on a true event in someone's life. Lady Gaga made me believe her pain that she had to muddle down for her performances. And Bradley showed us all in a very moving way the realities of addiction and made me feel for him in a weird way. I am floored from these actors and wouldn't be surprised if they both earn Oscars for their acting.

A Star is Born is a very successful hit because it spans across audiences, providing us with a heartwarming love story, a thrilling drama, and an outstanding musical movie. This was very smart thinking for the director, Bradley Cooper it reached into people's hearts and made them feel things. I for sure was not dry-eyed after the ending of this movie, but also in a weird way felt a sense of hope in love again. Were so normalized to unhappy relationships in today's society and in film, and A Star is Born was a refreshing change in what we're seeing on the big screen.



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