A star is born directed by Bradly Cooper, with himself and Lady Gaga in the main roles is the forth remake of a 1937 Romantic drama written and directed by William Wellman. The 2 other remakes were in 1954, Starring Judy Garland and James Mason, and in 1976 with Barbara Streisand and Chris Christofferson.
The plot is built on the encounter of an alcoholic singer and a wannabe singer farm girl and the fall of the first and the rise of the other.
The film has been in the making for several years, initially planned to be directed and produced by Clint Eastwood and staring Beyonce.
The story of Lady Gaga’s rise to fame by itself is a fascinating story which would have been an even better scenario for a movie of this kind. Stefani Germanotta had set up her mind on becoming a singer and actress from a young age, receiving singing lessons from Christina Aguilera’s singing coach, Don Lawrence at times every day and taking full day of acting classes every Saturday. Frequent reminders from the people in the industry telling her that she did not have the voice, singing talents or the look for stardom did not dissuade her to seek a different career.
In her acting debut, Gaga has chosen huge shoes to fill. Charisma of Judy Garland and the voice of Barbara Streisand are not easily achievable even for the talented. The mismatch between Bradly Cooper and Gaga, makes the plot unrealistic and at times - like the scene where Gaga finishes La Vie en Rouse song with a look towards Cooper - ridiculous. Cooper and the other actors deliver a decent and professional work. In fact every scene without Gaga looks and sounds like a watchable movie.
Gaga would be probably just fine or even impressive in a karaoke bar or a as casino performer in Las Vegas, but non of her qualities raise up to the world class stardom levels she yearns for.
A star is born is not a movie you would remember after the credits start rolling, but it would have been at least bearable and less comical had any of the originally thought talented singers taken the main female role.
It’s hard to get into the mindset and behind the scenes of Hollywood to find out what motivates and pushes the nominations and awards besides real talent and performance of the actors and movie makers. A hard-drinking star appeals to the academy member for some reason.
A Star is Born is now available on Bluray, UHD and on iTunes.
HT
Image 20th Century Fox