Review of A Star Is Born (2018) by Joelgreenberg — 06 Oct 2018

The movie never avoids embracing cliches and oversimplifying the music, of which there is far too much - and lyrics are apparently unnecessary, since most of them sail by without clarity or discernible purpose.

Lady Gaga is a strong screen presence, though the script fails to serve her as it might have - I think she can probably act, but a script written in attitudes and endless repetition would be hard for even the young Streep to breathe life into. Cooper slurs his lines (and lyrics) with the carelessness that this character appears to have taken great pains to build upon as his career flourished - Kris Kristofferson without the credible vocal growl adopted here by Cooper for what I can only imagine is his musician's self-regard. Apart from all this, the movie is very long.