A STAR IS BORN Review
A Star Is Born (2018)
A Review By Ben Hunter
3/5 Stars
GET TO THE POINT
BEN!
Hollywood, for the
millionth time, stop being blinded by money. As such, this 4th vacation to the place we go every year is dreaded as gratuitous and not anticipated as necessary.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little over a decade ago, we were all mesmerized by an
unknown French actress’ performance as Edith
Piaf. It was here that we Americans all started to first hear the now overly
popular phrase, “La Vie En Rose” (live life on the brighter side, through the
“rosy/pink” glasses). This classically trained singer, who made the decision to
be an actress and had been doing so for 14 years prior to when Hollywood
discovered her as Piaf, was now on the scene as a legit member of the film
community who respectfully walked into the room. So naturally, we loved to see
her sing and dance with the other beautiful women of Daniel Day Lewis 2 years
later and become the nucleus of that story as to why he was so torn as a
character (Nine). We embraced her as “half
of a whole” with Leonardo DiCaprio as the reason for him to lose himself in the
maze of subconscious the next year (Inception).
Or the soul mate and true love of Bruce Wayne 2 years after that (The Dark Knight Rises). Her fulcrum
moment as Edith Piaf was the perfect spring board to launch her career as the
material CRAVED a newcomer who’s been respectfully earning their way into the
industry respectfully screaming their name to the public to witness the birth of the next. big. star. A respectful, legit, opening into the upholding of the
art of cinema.
A star … was born.
 |
| Jack & Ally (Director/Actor Bradley Cooper & Lady Gaga) in A Star Is Born (2018). |
Bradley Cooper hops in the director’s chair for the first
time to tackle something that’s been done THREE TIMES ALREADY in A Star Is Born (2018). I should be happy I guess as a Clint Eastwood
directed version with Beyonce would make me cringe. But Lady Gaga gets me
close, decent performance and all, though I’m not surprised to hear she needed
acting lessons and was completely terrible at first. “So why all the hatred
Ben?” Because is a star truly born? Are we witnessing the first step for Audrey
Hepburn after Roman Holiday? That
material CRAVED the birth of a star, a parallel of the two worlds. What about
our beloved Marion Cotillard if you couldn’t figure out the intro? FOURTEEN
YEARS on the scene in France, earning her way, classically trained, … star is
born-esk material (like La Vie En Rose,
which is a song Lady Gaga coincidentally sings in this film that doesn’t make
me feel what Bradley Cooper’s character is supposed to feel) is basically
telling you CAST HER! When you watch a particular film where the material just
accentuates the actress who plays it. Cary Grant turned down Roman Holiday
because he saw that this material is all about the girl and would be a step
down for a leading man in his position and status. But he knew, it would be
perfect for the right girl to launch their career. So does this material put
you in a trance as to how much it connects you with the material, the
character, and the actress? To make George Clooney (modern day Cary Grant) feel
he’d have to turn it down because it’s perfectly centered around the girl to
springboard her career? You Google this new girl whom you’ve never heard of
before. Hollywood becomes obsessed with her as much as you are now. It
perfectly launches her career. A star … is born! This film that you went out
and bought the DVD (tangible or digital) which you never do, started it all,
and it even had a pop star icon as a supporting role that was even kind of
funny/entertaining, etc. (like Dave Chappelle in A Star is Born).
No, let’s make Dave
Chappelle the star of this new artsy, indie comedy we’re trying to go for the
Oscar with. He’s funny, it’ll work. He did Half
Baked, and Con-Air, and all these
other cameos, see, he has experience. That’s what you want right? As we
overlook the actor who’s been acting for the last 14 years and has studied the
craft, not just as the funny guy or amazing at stand-up comedy. So, let’s put Lady
Gaga into this new musical we want to do. Bradley Cooper wants to direct, the
two of them look great together. Have her take some acting lessons. A star will
still be born because she isn’t an actress. Let’s give Beyonce/Lady Gaga/…
insert celebrity the role and completely throw away the chance to birth a star!
So we can watch Lady Gaga win a Grammy for the first time and connect with her
as she overcomes her nerves to sing in front of thousands of people because it’ll
be like the first time with her great acting that she’s doing in the film,
heck, technically, in the story we don’t know if she can sing at all … BUT SHE
CAN!!! Oh my gosh! I didn’t know that! This story is so connecting and moving
as it’s simultaneously birthing a star … who’s already a star.
This should have
been somebody else!
Yeah yeah, “it’s
called acting”, I get it. But you just blatantly or willingly ignored the next
Marion Cotillard from 10 years ago or the next Audrey Hepburn by denying her an
AUDITION for Roman Holiday, a project
you just HAVE to center around pop star sensation Lady Gaga because, hey
that’ll really sell tickets … and look super cool to boot! Put her in a Dave
Chappelle-esk supporting role from this movie then if that’s the case. I’m
reliving Les Miserables all over again. I’m not saying she was terrible, her
acting was actually quite good. She looked like a normal human being for once
which was kind of nice. But do I think a star is born? Am I mesmerized by how
intertwined the material and the actress are as this just feels like no one
else should have played this role? Am I Googling her in my off time, at my desk
at work because I’m so happy I’m witnessing the birth of a star? NO! I just saw
Lady Gaga in a 2 hour music video really try to force her way to legitimacy as
an actor. “See! See! I was out of place at the Golden Globes when you thought I
was just piggy backing to legitimacy as an actor. Especially when I got upset
at Leonardo DiCaprio for bumping into me. But NOW! … NOW I deserve to be here!”
Other than the obvious, one-sided, political groupthink, THIS IS WHAT I HATE
THE MOST ABOUT HOLLYWOOD!!! When business takes over and we replace deserving
actors who’ve earned their shot with celebrities claiming legitimacy and taking
away work from actors who can’t even get an audition! Just looking the other
way when we could be birthing new stars! So I’ve sacrificed all of that … "but
Lady Gaga did a decent job acting." IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN SOMEONE ELSE! As
decent and non-terrible but non-ground breaking as the critics are saying as
this film is, we could’ve truly birthed another Audrey Hepburn or Marion
Cotillard, as Lady Gaga or heck even Beyonce after a handful of tries, takes a
supporting role here and slowly builds their way respectfully into the world of
acting. A world they are nowhere near the level they are in the world in which
they came.
Bradley Cooper took
a year to learn the guitar for this, in addition to directing a feature length
MUSICAL for the first time. He was the mesmerizing actor in this story. His
country accent, his obsessions, faults, character motivations, etc., I
connected a whole lot more with him when this material basically screams at you
to focus on her. Material that should’ve never been touched again after Judy
Garland carried the torch in 1954.
So because the world
we live in now is so polarized and focused on political “progress”, this
project for the 4th time is so groundbreaking. Because Get Out (2017) wasn’t the worst, it’s
the best! And you’re a racist if you say otherwise. Because Wonder Woman (2017) and Black Panther (2018) weren’t the worst
(though I hated WW), they’re the
best! And you’re a racist AND a sexist if you say otherwise! Because Crazy, Rich, Asians (2018) wasn’t the
worst, it’s the best! And you’re trying to Make America White Again and don’t
want to see minorities succeed if you say otherwise! So since Lady Gaga wasn’t
the worst, SHE’S THE BEST!! … EVER!! “And I so hope she wins the Oscar now!”
Over “that girl from …” who’s been acting for 14 years in supporting roles and
this was that perfect break for the 4th time that critics like me
would’ve been celebrating the fact that …
A star … is born.
Musical, 136 Minutes, R
Screenplay By: Eric Roth, and
Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters
Directed By: Bradley Cooper
Cast: Lady Gaga, Bradley
Cooper, Sam Elliot, & Dave Chappelle
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