Review of A Star Is Born (2018) by Steven K — 08 Oct 2018

Much as I love Lady Gaga and consider her extremely talented I was disappointed in this movie. It was like sitting in a puddle of mud for over 2 hours. I expected the story to be dramatic, but this falls into the category of over-baked and relentless melodrama.

Maybe I just wasn't in the mood. I can't imagine anyone crying at the end as the movie did not so much pull at your heart-strings as yank them with extreme force from start to finish. Also, the film's editing was jagged and uneven throughout.

They did not seem to trust the audience to have much more than the attention span of a a gaggle of gnats. The music? Well, yes the Lady shone on occasion, but I did not hear any songs that excited me to the point of thinking, "I MUST have this NOW!" There is a very nice ballad called "Shallow" featured in the film, but that was about it.

The script heightens Gaga''s character's feelings of insecurity about her looks. I read somewhere Gaga was rejected by someone in the music biz over her own looks. I don't get that, as I personally find her attractive, but I'm a gay guy so maybe I don't count.

. She looks better au natural than she does trying to be eccentric for her minions of "monsters' or whatever. I don't know what I was expecting; I just found this movie to be a bit of a drag.

I have a hard time believing it is already getting Oscar buzz. It might better be titled "a Classic Co-Dependent is Born" as I saw no reason whatsoever why the Gaga character, who did not seem like a dummy, would get seriously involved with the character portrayed by Cooper.

I can only assume they were trying to be faithful to the original story, but this could've used a stronger dose of plausibility.