Review of A Star Is Born (2018) by Jonathan B — 10 Oct 2018

Loved it. love it when I can just get wrapped up in it and not think about the time of day. not think about if I have snacks. not think about the directors hand. it was great.

Fantastic performances. gaga, cooper, sam elliot, andrew dice clay all were amazing. sam elliot crying left and right. when cooper says that he always looked up to elliot and not his dad, and then elliot quickly turns towards the camera and cries ad he drives away. perfect moment. dice clay reminded of all those long island guys I know. hilarious.

I wish cooper would look up just a little bit more. I loved the whole thing he was doing. I totally bought everything he did. but I so often feel within that he cant resist that generic leading man charming eyes thing he does. hes got all the talent and skills, but when the camera turns on, he cant get rid of that 1% of generic charm.

Gaga was perfect. perfect casting. she is a total natural. it was perfect casting because it was all about revealing true talent and uncovering her stuff. and gaga is known for her makeup and her show and her pop. So it was really a beautiful look into the real gaga. and shes beautiful. shes got the stuff. she was a natural.

Coopers directing was perfect. what a debut.

Im not sure I needed the suicide. and my unease tells a lot. I dont thin I needed it because it really put a damper on the movie which just didnt have that heavy of a tone to it. he could have died in a drunk driving accident. but I think the suicide left me wondering because it wasn't clear to me that he was doing it to get out of the way for her. I know its exactly what her manager said to him, but I wanted him to fight harder past that point. I wanted him to struggle with that longer. I wanted to see him come to the conclusion that he is killing himself out of love for her, so that hewn hold her back. I just missed that.

The only other issue I had was the flashback moments in the final song after his death were super cheesy. first time I felt the directors hand. the only one that was appropriate was when we saw him singing the song and her crying listening to it.

The movies strengths was in what it wasn't. it wasn't melodramatic. it wasn't about how difficult fame is. and all the drugs and parties and sex. it wasn't about jealousy and rage. it was a couple who deeply love each other. they love and take care of each other. they push each other and they forgive each other. it was an intimate look into a beautiful couple. even when things got dramatic (save for the suicide) there were some laughs about it. like when he peed on stage. or it was about some smaller issues, like he came to her rehearsal and she wanted space. loved it.