"A Star is Born" Has Fantastic Music, and Two Special Performances from Cooper, and Gaga

By: Keaton Marcus

Genre/Musical/Drama/Romance

Age Rating/14+

Lemonradar/80% sweet

Introduction

Hi, this is Keaton Marcus from Sweet and Sour Movie Reviews and today I will be reviewing the musical reboot, A Star is Born starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. When Ally (Lady Gaga), a rookie artist, still in the start of her career meets Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper), a musical superstar at a drag-queen bar, they have an immediate connection; Jackson later helps Ally get her career of the ground, as they fall in love, however, Jack’s drinking problem starts to drain his once magnificent career and Ally becomes one of the most popular stars ever, what will become of their love for eachother?

How Was The Cast?

The original A Star is Born, released in 1954 starred Judy Garland and James Mason and was an immediate success with critics, especially according to the 97% it currently holds on Rotten Tomatoes, this proves that you don’t need superstars to make a Musical wonderful. This update of the classic stars well-known actors Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, while that might not be perfectly loyal to the original, a top-tier cast still gives the 2018 A Star is Born many positives. Supporting actors are also exceedingly well-cast, with Sam Elliot as Jackson’s older brother, Bobby, Anthony Ramos as Ramon and Andrew Dice Clay as Ally’s father, Lorenzo. As I said we saw actor Bradley Cooper known for his colorful roles in the Guardians of the Galaxy couplet, American Sniper, Silver Linings Playbook, The A-Team, The Words etc. as Jackson Maine. Whether slumming it in CBS’ horrific literature drama The Words with Zoe Saldana, delivering comedic gold in Marvel creations, cooking in Burnt, or shooting em’ up in American Sniper and The A-Team, Cooper always delivers his likeable charisma, playing a pretty-boy in almost every one of his films, however in A Star is Born, although he suffers from drinking problems, the women love him; And despite that, Cooper’s wonderful singing voice, drama and comedy strengths make everyone enjoy his bumblings in this musical whether it is peeing in his pants during the Grammy awards from drinking or signing his name on women’s boobs. Really overall, his atmospheric directing and performance as Jackson create another success in his already proud career. Secondly we have actress Lady Gaga known for Machete Kills, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For etc. as Ally. Although definitely more known (and not to mention better) in her singing career, clearly noticed in her previous sub-par film performances, however this is obviously because director Robert Rodriguez (who directed her two previous efforts) was clearly not intending to make a Musical, which obviously, Gaga would be game at, director Bradley Cooper however, casting the famous artist in A Star is Born was undeniably perfect; Gaga, almost always known for her big-makeup and hair styles, goes completely stripped of the fashion in her raw performance for the film, delivering a beautiful singing voice, and although not known for many films, the best acting in a tragic-type movie that I have seen in years, and the best part about this opinion is that no previous experience was required. Gaga simply took her undeniable amazing talents on the stage and induced it in this almost perfect musical. Like I said previously in the review, the supporting parts were brilliantly cast. Sam Elliott plays Jackson’s older brother, Bobby with bold satisfaction and despite an ultimately cheesy backstory, for a side-character such as this role, Elliot never slums it throughout the 2hr 16min runtime, proving just as much power as its two charming lead stars. Secondly, on the more comedy side of A Star is Born, was actors Anthony Ramos and Andrew Dice Clay playing Ramon (Ally’s dedicated supporter) and Ally’s father (in that order). Wonderfully shedding some light on a tragic story, Ramos and Clay play the usual stereotypical roles with solid comedy, and although not in as many scenes as they should be, they were just as great as the hysterical side-characters in a film packed with well-known stars.

Quality

Directing this Musical update (as well as giving an amazing performance as Jackson Maine) was filmmaker Bradley Cooper, and while the actor is an incredible performer in his previous films, this is his debut project director wise which just makes the film that much more impressive. Surrounded by a talented, and very-well-performing cast, beautiful singing voices for groundbreaking songs (the best being Shallow), adding up to Cooper’s atmospheric, multi-genre directing. And while that aims A Star is Born to standing with the above-average Musicals, higher-in-depth than Mama Mia! Here We Go Again or perhaps The Greatest Showman, it still suffers sometimes for cheesy, over-the-top scenes, which although occur in most Musicals, it is a little disappointing considering that overall besides that, Star was going for a perfect film. However, these minor flaws do not detract the wonderful positives that are more than enough to outweigh these problems here and there throughout the movie. Storyline wise, A Star is Born shines, being one of the strongest points of the film, and although the backstory between Bobby (Elliott) and Jackson (Cooper) can spark a few unintentional laughs, the story is usually very tightly woven together, flowing coherently with the surrounding talent and reassuring directing by Bradley Cooper.

Aging ‘The Guitar’

One of the more adult-targeted Musicals of 2018, A Star is Born includes some very intense scenes, a few (but not much) sexual scenes that are inappropriate for children, and frequent strong language which definitely gear it to its reported R-rating, but still would not be considered a strong R. Violence includes the backstory between Jackson and his abusive father, a character hangs himself with a belt (off-screen) and Ally and Jackson both punch a couple of people throughout the film. Language includes very frequent uses of f..k, f..king, s...t, a-hole, ass, t...ies and b..ch. Sexuality wise, there are a few scenes that include a bare female back and sides of breasts, and a character receives an injection on his buttocks.

A Star is Born V La La Land

A Star is Born 80% sweet

Violence: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Language: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Sex: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Age Rating: 14+

La La Land 85% sweet

Violence: ⭐☆☆☆☆

Language: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Sex: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

Age Rating: 12+


A Star is Born 80% sweet

Storyline: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Cast: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Role Models: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

La La Land 85% sweet

Storyline: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Cast: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Role Models: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

News Related to  A Star is Born

$plurge, $tream, $kip: A Star is Born has a few unintentional laughs, and some over-the-top moments, but Bradley Cooper’s brilliant directing and acting along with Gaga’s beautiful performance outweigh the flaws…$PLURGE IT