When Ally meets Jackson, he’s already been an alcoholic for much of his life, a trait he seems to have inherited from his father, who was also a heavy drinker.
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What’s it really about?Ĭooper’s film doesn’t make any bones about it: this is a movie about addiction and the crippling effects the disease has not just on the addict, but on anybody in their orbit. He’s unable to cope with his addiction and Ally’s rocket ship success, and their role reversal begins to add further strain to their once-idyllic relationship. His brother and road manager (Sam Elliott) leaves him, and while Ally inspires Jackson to get sober in fits and spurts, he nevertheless keeps falling off the wagon at the worst possible moments. Soon, she signs with a manager and starts building her own career.īut as Ally’s career begins to take off, Jackson ends up on the decline. The two quickly fall in love as Ally cuts her teeth singing as part of Jackson’s band. The audience loves them together, and soon, Ally joins Jackson on tour. The next day, Jackson flies Ally to one of his gigs and invites her to sing with him onstage. She’s reluctant to make herself that vulnerable, having been told since childhood that she’s not beautiful enough to really make it - an idea reinforced by her well-meaning but unhelpful father Lorenzo (a fantastic performance by Andrew Dice Clay). The pair chats all night, and Jackson encourages her to start writing and singing her own songs, as that’s the one thing that will make her unique as an artist.
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After a show one night, his driver takes him to a drag club, where he sees Ally (Lady Gaga) perform, and he is instantly taken by her voice. Jackson Maine (Cooper) is a musician struggling with addictions to pills and booze and in denial about his gradual hearing loss.
There are beats pulled from every prior incarnation to the point where A Star is Born starts to feel like its own weird subgenre. But more than anything else, Cooper’s A Star is Born is like a greatest hits compilation of every previous iteration of the story. It’s a rags-to-riches wish-fulfillment fantasy. It’s a reminder that some stories are truly timeless and allow us to examine aspects of the human condition no matter what decade they’re made in. A Star is Born isn’t just proof that Lady Gaga is a wickedly talented movie star (though it does prove that) or that Cooper is a tremendously talented writer and director (it proves that, too). It’s valid to ask whether a movie needs to be made a fourth time, but Cooper’s fantastic, emotional film demonstrates how execution, style, and a modern point of view can make even the most familiar story fresh again. A story about an aspiring young female entertainer who falls in love with a male star whose career is on the decline, the film has been remade four times, with Janet Gaynor (1937), Judy Garland (1954), Barbra Streisand (1976), and now Lady Gaga in Bradley Cooper’s directing debut. (Just ask fans of John Carpenter’s The Thing or David Cronenberg’s The Fly.)īut even given that long history, few movies stand out for the sheer number of remakes like A Star is Born. Whether filmmakers are recycling familiar genre archetypes or giving an old classic a modern update, revivals have been a movie staple since the beginning of the industry - and sometimes, those remakes can become classics in their own right. It’s easy to lament Hollywood’s love of reboots, remakes, and sequels as a sign of modern-day creative stagnation, but the truth is that the entertainment industry has always loved retelling the same stories. This review comes from the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. Welcome to Cheat Sheet, our brief breakdown-style reviews of festival films, VR previews, and other special event releases.
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