Here we are. The last post in my A Star is Born series. I saved the best for last, as far as film quality. Fifth time’s the charm?
Since this film is also set in the music world, it’s most directly a remake of the 1976 film, much the same way Switching Channels was essentially a specific remake of His Girl Friday, rather than any version of The Front Page. The difference is that this time the remake got it right and is the one worthy of being called a classic.
I’m not even sure where to begin with the praise. I’ll start with comparisons to the 1976 version. Bradley Cooper brings just as much charisma and animal magnetism to the table as Kris Kristofferson did, but Lady Gaga is an infinitely better ingénue. The transition her character undergoes from aspiring ballad singer to generic teenybopper adds another layer to the story’s conflict. The appearance of things like Saturday Night Live add verisimilitude to the story. The public humiliation scene is taken to another powerful level, even though the most recent film was made at a time when that would have already been allowed. The heroine’s confidant character, rather than being a loving grandmother or coach of hers, is the hero’s big brother who raised him. The fact that he loves both lead characters lends the overall story a sense of tragedy that was absent with those previous two characters (and certainly when there was a jealous lover instead). Significantly, a new character is the heroine’s hard-nosed manager who really drives the film’s central conflict. He sees the potential she has and wants her to achieve it but is not afraid of using tough love to make that happen. I consider him the impetus for the movie’s most powerful scene.
Most importantly, the love between Ally and Jack, as they’re called in this movie, is never short of captivating. From their instant chemistry to the passionate sex scenes that early versions couldn’t have and the 1976 version simply didn’t to the charming scenes with a character played by Dave Chappelle driving the romance forward to the fighting which only happens because each wants what’s best for the other to the realization that each would pay any price for the other, this is one of the best love stories I’ve ever seen. The final scene is basically taken from the previous film, but it carries infinitely more weight after everything that came before it.
Let’s get explicit comparisons to the even earlier versions out of the way as well. This is longer than any previous film other than the 1954 version but there is never a dull moment. The 2018 version is INFINITELY better structured. Lady Gaga’s singing is deftly incorporated into the story instead of forcing the whole story to be put on hold forever. This is in addition to the Gaga and Cooper having the chemistry Garland and Mason sorely lacked.
Lack of chemistry was the big issue in the 1937 version as well but that had individual scenes powerful enough that the 1954 version copied them practically verbatim. Yet this film had its own great scenes – nothing lifted from 1937/1954 (or 1976 except for the last scene) – that were better than anything in any previous films because of how much we cared about the characters’ love.
As far as What Price Hollywood?, please. Filmmaking in the early 1930s was too clunky for even a great director to create something that makes such beautiful use of all the film elements. That’s even if the story were anywhere near as powerful, which it definitely isn’t.
Final verdict: What are you still doing online? Get your ass to a theater and watch this!
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