Movie Review: 'A Star Is Born' Signals The Official Arrival Of #OscarSzn

As I previously wrote about, October marks the beginning of a slew of films that will remain in the Oscar discussion from now until awards night. With that in mind, I will be adding a little twist to each of my movie reviews going forward. At the end of each review, I will have an updated list of my personal Oscar nominations. Again, these are not predictions, just my own opinions. I will only take into account movies that I have seen. I will only be covering the six major categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Lead Actor, Lead Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s dive into A Star is Born, a movie that all expect to have a heavy presence at the Oscars.

After seeing the trailers for A Star is Born for what seems like months on end now, my anticipation for its release was reaching incredibly high levels. It got so high that I wasn’t sure the movie would be able to meet my expectations. Well I’m happy to report that it met, and possibly even exceeded, those expectations. To put it simply, A Star is Born is incredible.

Bradley Cooper stars as world-famous musician Jackson Maine. He meets Ally (Lady Gaga) by chance one night and takes her under his wing, helping get her own singing career off the ground. This turns into a loving relationship, though Jack’s inner demons threaten to bring it all crashing down. Let’s start with the two leads. Both Cooper and Gaga turn in star performances. Gaga is especially impressive in her debut starring role. We all know she can sing, news to no one. But she completely crushes her role as Ally. Similar to Gaga and her singing, Cooper long ago established himself as a fantastic actor. And here he also gets to show off his immense musical talents as well. It paid off big time having two leads who could handle both the acting and musical requirements with such excellence.

Going beyond Cooper and Gaga, every single supporting character brings it as well. Sam Elliott gives a great performance as Jack’s brother Bobby. Dave Chappelle is awesome in his too-short role as Jack’s long-time friend Noodles. And you can’t overlook Anthony Ramos as Ally’s close friend Ramon. He plays the role with such energy and excitement. It’s just a joy every time he’s on screen. Even Andrew Dice Clay is in a nice spot as Ally’s father Lorenzo. A deep, well-rounded cast can play a huge part in taking a movie from good to great. And as great as Cooper and Gaga are, it’s these supporting characters – and others – who really help elevate this film to another level.

As important as acting performances are, if they don’t have an engaging story to tell, it can all be for naught. And this story draws you in from the word “go.” It’s intense, it’s powerful, it packs a serious emotional punch. It brings you into these characters’ lives and makes you feel what they’re feeling. You care about the characters and you care about what happens to them. And that only serves to make the emotional twists all the more powerful.

And of course there’s the music. Like the rest of the movie, the music is also incredible. “Shallow” has been released and is great, to be sure. But it’s far from the only good song the movie has to offer. Lady Gaga has some solo performances that are (here’s that word again) incredible. During her first performance there are a couple moments that literally gave me chills. Unbelievable. And there’s a song near the end of the movie that is utterly captivating. Now to be fair, there are a couple songs that are terrible. But in the context of the movie, I think they were made bad on purpose. That will make sense once you see it. But every legitimate song is great.

So with all this praise, how is this movie “only” a 97? There are a few nitpicky problems I have that drop it a couple points. There is one scene where it’s just Jack and Ally talking outside. Ally starts singing and it just ends up being awkward. The act in itself may have fit with Ally’s personality, but the way it played out wasn’t done quite right. There is also a small subplot about a different health problem Jack has (I don’t think it would be a spoiler to say specifically, but why risk it?). It gets brought up sporadically and is discussed as if it’s some major plot device. And while it no doubt would have a huge impact in Jack’s life, it never really gets developed throughout the movie. I can’t really say much about the other problems I had, as I couldn’t do so without giving away at least minor spoilers. Suffice it to say that I wasn’t a fan of how a couple plot points progressed.

But in the end, those few, minor issues pale in comparison to how excellent the rest of the movie is. If and when A Star is Born receives its numerous Oscar nominations, they will have been well-deserved. And one tip to finish with here. If you can go see it in a Dolby theater, or anywhere that offers some kind of enhanced sound theater, do it. It will cost more but will be more than worth it.

Oscar hopes: A LOT

Best Picture
Best Director – Cooper
Lead Actor – Cooper
Lead Actress – Gaga
Supporting Actor – Sam Elliott
Best Original Song – “Shallow” is probably the favorite here, but there are a number of worthy choices. Two of my personal other favorites are “Always Remember Us This Way” and “I’ll Never Love Again.”