Nico's Review of "A Star Is Born"
Posted: October 5th, 2018, 11:51 pm
The Best Picture of the Year.
Despite my resume, I rarely exert myself to pen full-length reviews any more -- no one will pay me to do so that I'm aware of, any longer, and my name and cachet in "the biz" is somewhere between dogshit and oblivion, nowadays. Still, it's the truly exceptional film -- in both excellent and terrible ways -- that inspires me to sit down and pound away at the keys with the breathless abandon that now courses through me, and I do love these moments, few and far between they are.
Let's be clear: There have been three previous iterations of this filmed narrative, and every one has been exceptional for its day -- two even provided the vehicle for all-time career-defining acting turns for their headliners (Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand, both in their prime as entertainers). So to call the fourth version of a genre-establishing story, its transcendantly definitive portrayal, is a statement deserving of skepticism so deep and profound as to be indistinguishable from ridicule.
That being said: Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga have crafted a film for the ages in "A Star Is Born". There is no cliched superlative overstatement that cannot be deservedly applied: It is a revelation, a tour de force, a startlingly affecting and absolutely unforgettable piece of cinematic artistry that will leave you shattered, stunned, and exhausted in the very best ways.
It will sweep the Oscars next February. It will secure nominations in every one of the Big Five categories: Best Actress (Lady Gaga), Best Actor (Bradley Cooper), Best Adapted Sceenplay (Eric Roth, Cooper, and Will Fetters), Best Director (Cooper), and, yes: It will WIN Best Picture, delivering for the masses the most broadly-loved top-honored film the Oscars telecast has experienced in fifteen years (since "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"), breathing welcome new life into that moribund and politically riven institution. Finally, in "A Star Is Born", we again have a film that can be both utterly lionized by the cinerati and absolutely adored by theatergoers. This film will be the "Fame" of the early decades of this century. It will never be forgotten, and in terms of its very specific genre, it may never be surpassed.
Much will be written about the process of this film's development, and more will focus on the film's extraordinary quintuple-threat, actor-singer-songwriter-producer-director Bradley Cooper, who with this film vaults ahead of contemporaries like Christian Bale (likely to vie with Cooper for Best Actor, for his stunning and subtly mesmerizing transformation in "Vice" as Dick Cheney) and Joaquin Phoenix (another soon-to-be Best Actor nominee, for "Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot", a criminally underpromoted and underseen film that released earlier this Summer) into the rare air reserved for Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford and Ben Affleck as do-everything masters of their craft(s). All of it is deserved: How Cooper beat out the aforementioned Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, and others for the chance of remaking a thrice-Hollywood classic; how he roomed with Lukas Nelson, Willie's son and heir, for a full year to learn how to play, perform, and drawl; how he, already an adequate singer, honed his craft with Gaga and various other vocal mentors, including Kris Kristofferson, to enable him to not only sing his own (his own!) songs for the film's outstanding soundtrack, but to sing them LIVE for the motion-picture cameras, instead of relying on studio wizardry and ADR synchronization magic to pull off this very special effect (Gaga's idea, bee tea dubs); how Cooper and Gaga pulled SO MUCH from their actual lives, from medical issues to addictions to the sudden death of Gaga's best friend, and tamed their demons to create an indelible work of art and therapy all but indistinguishable from their actual stories and personas. To quote a far less superior film from this century that, tragically, will always hold a far greater place in history than this movie: It's true. All of it.
And yet, we must not overlook the obvious: Bradley Cooper delivers here the performance of a lifetime, as true and resonant and compelling as that of Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler", or Russell Crowe in "The Insider", or Paul Newman in "The Color of Money". And, too, it cannot be ignored that Lady Gaga was born [heh] to play the role of Ally Maine, in the same way that no one but Madonna could have played "Evita", that none but Jennifer Hudson could have headlined "Dreamgirls", no singer-actress could ever have been Mary Rose Foster of "The Rose" but Bette Midler. Their turns as the grizzled, troubled, world-weary country-rock icon Jackson Maine, and the brilliantly talented but insecure cocktail-waitress-cum-superstar Ally, are so raw, so real, so essential, that they frankly eclipse even the career-best performances of Reese Witherspoon and Phoenix in "Walk the Line", one of the greatest portrayals of celebrity, and the struggle to love in the face of it, ever filmed.
Gaga is, as I said at the outset, a revelation. She must immediately be considered the frontrunner for Best Actress, and I do not believe anyone -- not Juliette Binoche in "Let the Sunshine In", not Rachel McAdams in "Disobedience", not Michelle Pfeiffer in "Where is Kyra?", not, even, Amy Adams in the forthcoming "Vice" -- will wrest that honor from her. She is simply a lock. The fact that she sang the film's climactic track, "I'll Never Love Again", mere hours after learning of the loss of her best friend, alone ought to merit her the Award, to be honest, but her riveting portrayal of the ascendant Ally (which reminds me so much of Renee Zellweger's role in "Jerry Maguire", another star-making turn) is staggering in its honesty, complexity, and bravery. In a single film, she has become one of the most extraordinary actresses -- Hell, talents, period -- of her generation.
Cooper's Jackson, meantime, is a study in brilliant gifts and beautiful self-destruction. One wonders how Joaquin Phoenix, River's little brother, might respond to this movie, because rocker Maine IS the long-deceased, meteoric actor come (back) to life. Again: Many will focus on his singing, playing, and strutting, but DO NOT miss the depths, the subtlety, the transparency of his stunning performance here. His haunting portrayal of an aging and imploding celebrity is the stuff of dreams... and, nightmares. I think Bale probably has Best Actor locked up.... But the four-time-nominated Cooper may just sweep The Academy, as well as filmgoers, off their feet. Regardless, don't feel too badly for Bradley -- his career has just begun in earnest, folks. This was a star-making turn for him as well. Expect to see him behind the camera much, much more.
And, yet: This is manifestly Gaga's film. Her story, and I don't only mean that of her character's. At first I was stunned that she took top billing "away" from Cooper -- but upon reflection, it could not possibly have been any other way. She is the titular star, and she has been, if not born, then at least reborn, before our very eyes.
The supporting cast is uniformly excellent: Rafi Gavron as Ally's crafty, slithery manager; Dave Chapelle as Jackson's old friend, a retired musician; Sam Elliott as his damaged but loyal older brother and manager; Ron Rifkin as a take-no-nonsense twelve-step program sponsor; and, especially, holy Hell, an all-but-unrecognizable Andrew 'Dice' Clay as Ally's disillusioned, or maybe just delusional, but loving father. WHO THE HELL KNEW THE DICEMAN COULD ACTUALLY ACT?
The cinematography is superb; the bourbon-soaked earthiness of Jackson's stage performances and the home he shares with Ally; the extravagant and bodacious color palette of Ally's drag club and pop-music rehearsal space and marketing; the washed-out, sunbleached Arizona landscape where Maine's true demons first appear to Ally. Everything is on point: The costumes, the makeup and hairstyling (Bradley Cooper's luxuriously, lavishly, indomitably unkempt mane and beard alone ought be up for an award), the set dressing, the film and sound editing, everything. Every damn thing about this film is next to perfection. (Some theatergoers may object to the "loudness" of every Jackson Maine song, but I feel that was a deliberate choice, and in keeping with one of the film's major, yet understated, subplots.)
...I will end this review with a word about the soundtrack. God DAMN, the music rocks. Forget "Almost Famous", "Rock Star", or, even, "The Bodyguard" -- all, in this particular subgenre of fictional musicians and the fictionally iconic music they create, brilliant in their way -- the songs written for this film are a new standard, and the "A Star Is Born" soundtrack is right up there with "That Thing You Do!" as far as the believability of the tracks and performers go. That film, btw, was the directorial debut of another multi-faceted and endlessly talented superstar, a legend both on and behind the camera: Tom Hanks. Every track on this album, in this film, is a winner.
This is a film that will be beloved by an entire generation. It will be nominated in at least eight major categories -- I fully expect Sam Elliott to be so honored in the Best Supporting Actor category -- and if it walks away with less than five (including Best Original Song, for "I'll Never Love Again) -- I'll eat In 'N' Out.
Do not miss this film in theaters. See it twice if you possibly can. Gaga, Bradley: You have reached a new level, with this impossibly extraordinary film. You are, both of you, far from the shallows, now.
I remain, as always...
Nico.
https://youtu.be/bo_efYhYU2A
Despite my resume, I rarely exert myself to pen full-length reviews any more -- no one will pay me to do so that I'm aware of, any longer, and my name and cachet in "the biz" is somewhere between dogshit and oblivion, nowadays. Still, it's the truly exceptional film -- in both excellent and terrible ways -- that inspires me to sit down and pound away at the keys with the breathless abandon that now courses through me, and I do love these moments, few and far between they are.
Let's be clear: There have been three previous iterations of this filmed narrative, and every one has been exceptional for its day -- two even provided the vehicle for all-time career-defining acting turns for their headliners (Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand, both in their prime as entertainers). So to call the fourth version of a genre-establishing story, its transcendantly definitive portrayal, is a statement deserving of skepticism so deep and profound as to be indistinguishable from ridicule.
That being said: Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga have crafted a film for the ages in "A Star Is Born". There is no cliched superlative overstatement that cannot be deservedly applied: It is a revelation, a tour de force, a startlingly affecting and absolutely unforgettable piece of cinematic artistry that will leave you shattered, stunned, and exhausted in the very best ways.
It will sweep the Oscars next February. It will secure nominations in every one of the Big Five categories: Best Actress (Lady Gaga), Best Actor (Bradley Cooper), Best Adapted Sceenplay (Eric Roth, Cooper, and Will Fetters), Best Director (Cooper), and, yes: It will WIN Best Picture, delivering for the masses the most broadly-loved top-honored film the Oscars telecast has experienced in fifteen years (since "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"), breathing welcome new life into that moribund and politically riven institution. Finally, in "A Star Is Born", we again have a film that can be both utterly lionized by the cinerati and absolutely adored by theatergoers. This film will be the "Fame" of the early decades of this century. It will never be forgotten, and in terms of its very specific genre, it may never be surpassed.
Much will be written about the process of this film's development, and more will focus on the film's extraordinary quintuple-threat, actor-singer-songwriter-producer-director Bradley Cooper, who with this film vaults ahead of contemporaries like Christian Bale (likely to vie with Cooper for Best Actor, for his stunning and subtly mesmerizing transformation in "Vice" as Dick Cheney) and Joaquin Phoenix (another soon-to-be Best Actor nominee, for "Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot", a criminally underpromoted and underseen film that released earlier this Summer) into the rare air reserved for Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford and Ben Affleck as do-everything masters of their craft(s). All of it is deserved: How Cooper beat out the aforementioned Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, and others for the chance of remaking a thrice-Hollywood classic; how he roomed with Lukas Nelson, Willie's son and heir, for a full year to learn how to play, perform, and drawl; how he, already an adequate singer, honed his craft with Gaga and various other vocal mentors, including Kris Kristofferson, to enable him to not only sing his own (his own!) songs for the film's outstanding soundtrack, but to sing them LIVE for the motion-picture cameras, instead of relying on studio wizardry and ADR synchronization magic to pull off this very special effect (Gaga's idea, bee tea dubs); how Cooper and Gaga pulled SO MUCH from their actual lives, from medical issues to addictions to the sudden death of Gaga's best friend, and tamed their demons to create an indelible work of art and therapy all but indistinguishable from their actual stories and personas. To quote a far less superior film from this century that, tragically, will always hold a far greater place in history than this movie: It's true. All of it.
And yet, we must not overlook the obvious: Bradley Cooper delivers here the performance of a lifetime, as true and resonant and compelling as that of Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler", or Russell Crowe in "The Insider", or Paul Newman in "The Color of Money". And, too, it cannot be ignored that Lady Gaga was born [heh] to play the role of Ally Maine, in the same way that no one but Madonna could have played "Evita", that none but Jennifer Hudson could have headlined "Dreamgirls", no singer-actress could ever have been Mary Rose Foster of "The Rose" but Bette Midler. Their turns as the grizzled, troubled, world-weary country-rock icon Jackson Maine, and the brilliantly talented but insecure cocktail-waitress-cum-superstar Ally, are so raw, so real, so essential, that they frankly eclipse even the career-best performances of Reese Witherspoon and Phoenix in "Walk the Line", one of the greatest portrayals of celebrity, and the struggle to love in the face of it, ever filmed.
Gaga is, as I said at the outset, a revelation. She must immediately be considered the frontrunner for Best Actress, and I do not believe anyone -- not Juliette Binoche in "Let the Sunshine In", not Rachel McAdams in "Disobedience", not Michelle Pfeiffer in "Where is Kyra?", not, even, Amy Adams in the forthcoming "Vice" -- will wrest that honor from her. She is simply a lock. The fact that she sang the film's climactic track, "I'll Never Love Again", mere hours after learning of the loss of her best friend, alone ought to merit her the Award, to be honest, but her riveting portrayal of the ascendant Ally (which reminds me so much of Renee Zellweger's role in "Jerry Maguire", another star-making turn) is staggering in its honesty, complexity, and bravery. In a single film, she has become one of the most extraordinary actresses -- Hell, talents, period -- of her generation.
Cooper's Jackson, meantime, is a study in brilliant gifts and beautiful self-destruction. One wonders how Joaquin Phoenix, River's little brother, might respond to this movie, because rocker Maine IS the long-deceased, meteoric actor come (back) to life. Again: Many will focus on his singing, playing, and strutting, but DO NOT miss the depths, the subtlety, the transparency of his stunning performance here. His haunting portrayal of an aging and imploding celebrity is the stuff of dreams... and, nightmares. I think Bale probably has Best Actor locked up.... But the four-time-nominated Cooper may just sweep The Academy, as well as filmgoers, off their feet. Regardless, don't feel too badly for Bradley -- his career has just begun in earnest, folks. This was a star-making turn for him as well. Expect to see him behind the camera much, much more.
And, yet: This is manifestly Gaga's film. Her story, and I don't only mean that of her character's. At first I was stunned that she took top billing "away" from Cooper -- but upon reflection, it could not possibly have been any other way. She is the titular star, and she has been, if not born, then at least reborn, before our very eyes.
The supporting cast is uniformly excellent: Rafi Gavron as Ally's crafty, slithery manager; Dave Chapelle as Jackson's old friend, a retired musician; Sam Elliott as his damaged but loyal older brother and manager; Ron Rifkin as a take-no-nonsense twelve-step program sponsor; and, especially, holy Hell, an all-but-unrecognizable Andrew 'Dice' Clay as Ally's disillusioned, or maybe just delusional, but loving father. WHO THE HELL KNEW THE DICEMAN COULD ACTUALLY ACT?
The cinematography is superb; the bourbon-soaked earthiness of Jackson's stage performances and the home he shares with Ally; the extravagant and bodacious color palette of Ally's drag club and pop-music rehearsal space and marketing; the washed-out, sunbleached Arizona landscape where Maine's true demons first appear to Ally. Everything is on point: The costumes, the makeup and hairstyling (Bradley Cooper's luxuriously, lavishly, indomitably unkempt mane and beard alone ought be up for an award), the set dressing, the film and sound editing, everything. Every damn thing about this film is next to perfection. (Some theatergoers may object to the "loudness" of every Jackson Maine song, but I feel that was a deliberate choice, and in keeping with one of the film's major, yet understated, subplots.)
...I will end this review with a word about the soundtrack. God DAMN, the music rocks. Forget "Almost Famous", "Rock Star", or, even, "The Bodyguard" -- all, in this particular subgenre of fictional musicians and the fictionally iconic music they create, brilliant in their way -- the songs written for this film are a new standard, and the "A Star Is Born" soundtrack is right up there with "That Thing You Do!" as far as the believability of the tracks and performers go. That film, btw, was the directorial debut of another multi-faceted and endlessly talented superstar, a legend both on and behind the camera: Tom Hanks. Every track on this album, in this film, is a winner.
This is a film that will be beloved by an entire generation. It will be nominated in at least eight major categories -- I fully expect Sam Elliott to be so honored in the Best Supporting Actor category -- and if it walks away with less than five (including Best Original Song, for "I'll Never Love Again) -- I'll eat In 'N' Out.
Do not miss this film in theaters. See it twice if you possibly can. Gaga, Bradley: You have reached a new level, with this impossibly extraordinary film. You are, both of you, far from the shallows, now.
I remain, as always...
Nico.
https://youtu.be/bo_efYhYU2A