This post contains spoilers for A Star Is Born, now playing in theaters.
In a word(-ish): “HAAA AH AH AH AH, AAAH AAAH, AH AH AH AH HAAA.”
Today is the day. A Star Is Born is finally in theaters. I saw the Bradley Cooper-helmed, Lady Gaga starring Important Moment in Pop Culture History on Wednesday because #journalism. (You’re welcome.) But I’m also seeing it tonight because I’d already bought my tickets nearly a month ago and it was that good.
The film opens with scarlet letters spelling out the its title, framing a singing Lady Gaga as she strolls down the street. Indeed, a star is born and she’s already walking. It’s obvious from the jump that this is going to be a dissection of Modern Pop Stardom from the auteur/muse pair, but Cooper and Gaga manage to make Star a super enjoyable film-going experience without totally hitting us over the head with it.
ICYMI (you didn’t): this remake of the remakes is Cooper’s directorial debut and apparent passion project. By now, we’ve all read and heard ad nauseam about Gaga and Cooper’s connection—from him wiping away Gaga’s makeup during her audition, to their bonding over a leftover spaghetti dinner to Gaga being Cooper’s drag mother. (Mother Monster!)
But somehow their never-ending press tour—not to mention, the overwhelming hype—doesn’t overshadow the movie. OK fine, it is hard to not LOL when THAT scene plays, as Cooper slowly rolls down the window to tell Gaga he wants to take another look at her and she replies with a demure smile.
The film centers on Jackson Maine, an alcoholic country/folk singer-songwriter type, played with ruddy faced angst by Cooper, who has a chance encounter with Ally, played by Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, at a drag bar, with RuPaul’s Drag Race faves like Willam and Shangela nearly stealing the show. When Jackson sees Ally do a performance of “La Vie En Rose,” he falls hard and quick, while she magnetically struts around in a black slip, throwing roses into the crowd; Ally is a bit more balanced regarding her instantaneous feelings, but after she punches a cop in bar (it’s charming!), all bets are off.
What unravels is an electric love story between the pair, bookended by Ally’s path to stardom and Jackson’s descent into addiction, fading his star as resentment—against Ally’s success, against his past, against himself—bubbles to the surface.
Oh, and the chemistry between Cooper and Gaga is palpable: the way they look at each other; the easy, meant-to-be flow of their conversations; the frantic way they kiss.
The first half of the film navigates their blossoming relationship and artistic partnership, which begins after Jackson pulls Ally onstage to sing “Shallow.” Let’s relive it, shall we?
It’s a transformative experience for both of them—it gives Ally a much needed confidence boost to forget the haters and tear down the stage with her talent, and it’s a powerful wakeup call to Jackson about just how dormant he’s become. The scene is thrilling—imagine the feeling you got watching the A Star Is Born trailer and multiply it by a billion.
The second half of the film does drag a bit, when Jackson’s addiction swallows the rest of the plot, and Cooper begins capital A-acting. But Ally’s plotline remains fascinating as she navigates stardom, twisting herself into something commercially palatable while attempting to remain true to herself and what she has to say (as Jackson continually, obnoxiously reminds her).
It’s hard to not make parallels (from the pop bangers to the deliciously over-the-top fashion lewks) between Ally’s rise to stardom with Gaga’s, even as she rejects Gaga’s signature platinum locks and becomes more Gaga-lite over the course of the film. And while Ally embraces her inner Gaga, Stefani never goes fully Artpop Gaga in her performance as Ally. She’s never too much in the way that Lady Gaga haters (really, who are you?) would expect.
Throughout the film Gaga remains a tour de force—nailing the live performances and simultaneously giving an earthy, lived in performance as Ally. While A Star Is Born will probably jumpstart the “auteur” act of Cooper’s career, it’s launching a whole new Gaga era, much in the way the film does for Ally. Gaga’s going to become stuff of legend in a whole new way—a pop multihyphenate—like Judy and Barbra before her.
If you’ve seen the 1937 original or the 1954 remake or the 1976 remake (if not remedy this ASAP), you’ll have an idea of how A Star Is Born ends. Jackson’s demons come at him fast and threaten to derail everything the pair has built, individually and together (including that C U T E puppy they adopt!) and even when the coast finally seems clear, it, well, isn’t.
The good news: Jackson might have failed Ally in many ways, but Cooper managed to make Gaga’s star shine even brighter. She’s basically her own solar system now. Sign me up for the sequel: A Universe Is Born.
