Seasoned musician Jackson Maine discovers -- and falls in love with -- struggling artist Ally. She has just about given up on her dream to make it big as a singer until Jackson coaxes her into the spotlight. But even as Ally's career takes off, the personal side of their relationship is breaking down, as Jackson fights an ongoing battle with his own internal demons.
A Star is Born is a longly awaited film, about the rise and romance between two musicians. A little known fact, but this film is actually a remake of the 1937 hit, which was a success! But what was especially interesting about this film is that it's Bradley Cooper's introduction into film directing, and also a star in the acting world for Lady Gaga. I have wanted to watch this film for a really long time, ever since I had seen the adverts and that it would involve Bradley's debut, it was definitely a film I knew I had to see. I managed to get over to the cinema the day after it came out here in the UK to ensure that I didn't have to wait too long, I was definitely not disappointed! However the film was definitely unique in many ways, which I must add isn't always a good thing. Is it here though? Here are my thoughts on the film.
I really loved how the film began, through the use of great camera angles and audio it was able to really get us as an audience involved in the films plot right from the very beginning. This made the film unique and really helped to set the tone of the film amazingly. It almost gave the impression that we were actually one of the band members and right from the beginning, the film grabbed the audience and didn't let go. It did this through showing us performances of the characters songs, and by doing this not only did it help to introduce the characters to us amazingly, but it also helped to create the best element of the film. The ecosystem of music that was portrayed, but I'll get onto that later. I also thought it was really clever how we were actually shown the characters and given a demonstration of their individual lives before they actually met, by switching from their different perspectives really intelligently it gave the characters a real sense of realism and just helped to make it so genuine because we could actively see how their relationship had changed their life by seeing how they lived before. The camera angles were immense to help support this story as well, they really seemed to immerse us in every single scene within the film and they were so crucial to ensuring that every scene was powerful and it achieved this so well. It had a great effect of not only getting us engaged and excited about the film but it managed to give a rare reaction to a film, goosebumps and strangely enough, the camera angles were a large part in creating these. From showing the characters perspectives at a concert, to a flyover of a massive British concert, the camera work was key to creating the ecosystem of music whilst keeping us entertained and engaged with the film.
One of my favourite elements of this film was the story that it told, the best films don't tend to have a solid plot as such but instead they tell a story well and this film did that perfectly. It also was filled with special scenes, parts that simply had the audience in awe of what was going on in the film, but these parts felt genuine as well as breathtaking. We could tell that they were really important and well thought through because of how the audio stopped and all we could hear was the sound of our hearts beating, but also because it just felt right. The film conveyed these themes and moods through to us immensely well. Whether it was feeling happy, sadness or anger, many scenes in this film had the power to grip us as an audience and really entertain and immerse us in the film. What I liked though was that as a story, it involved all of these emotions at different points and the audience felt the same emotions as the characters on screen because we had spent so much time getting to know Jackson and Ally not only as characters but also seeing their romance and relationship develop before our very own eyes. But it was the same with every song in the film, each one seemed to really represent the mood perfectly that was being conveyed in that part of the story and that just made every single song amazing and just an experience to listen to, simply because it combined the great singing ability with the characters current situation and emotions. The dialogue wasn't too bad either, the characters really felt genuine when they spoke to each other and the dialogue was really engaging and exciting which made the conversations and speech between them all so interesting. But this was because their speech was clearly well thought through which made the characters seem down to Earth and real, they experienced real and relatable issues such as being self conscious or having personal issues and by describing this, the dialogue made the whole film really easy and enjoyable to engage with. The speech also really helped to convey the 'zero to hero' journey that the characters took, it was clear to see how they had changed and developed through the film through the word choices that they used to speak and communicate with each other and this really helped to personify the journey aspect that it felt the characters were taking during the film. The 'zero to hero' element was shown perfectly through seeing how different the characters lives were when they were apart and together, but the film was able to convey a really important message in this by communicating to us how the characters lived their lives so differently but at heart, they were so similar. This wasn't the only example of intelligent messages within the film either, during the end of the film we see an emotional scene between Jackson and his Brother, where he claims his Brother was his role model and we see his Brother driving away with red eyes, it wasn't a really clear element but it cleverly portrayed the emotion and relationship message in this film. But then as the film developed so did the story, we were put in pole position to see how their relationship seemed to crack and the film really nicely portrayed the effect of being in the spotlight by showing drugs/alcohol usage and the effect that it had on his ability to perform and be a husband. Not only did this help add to the authenticity of the film but it just made in a little shocking too. And then the rise to the top and then the drop, the story in the film really showed the lives of the characters by giving us access to their whole lives and seeing first hand how their lives changed throughout the film. Scenes such as a drunk Jackson wetting himself at the Grammy's really just made the film realistic and portrayed the characters and their relationship perfectly and then communicated this to the audience. The film then ended amazingly, not only did it provide a very surprising and emotional twist but during these final scenes, you could have heard a pin drop in the room, the audience was so en-thrilled and engaged with the film that everyone held their breath, it was scenes like these in the film that were immense and just so engaging and gripping. Jackson's later scenes really hit home with the audience too, when he’s struggling with sobriety and escalating tinnitus. He doesn’t jerk your tears — he eases them out until you suddenly realize you’re a mess. This film is not a film at all but an experience.
There is definitely an unfair ratio of how much I enjoyed about this film as opposed to how much I didn't enjoy but there are always bad parts, however hard they are to find. There were a few concepts during the film that were quite difficult to believe, that Jackson had stumbled into a bar for alcohol and then met the love of his life with barely anyone recognising who he was and having the story moving fairly quickly in this respect. However having them getting married so quickly did have a strong and powerful effect on how we saw the characters, but scenes like these just made me question their relevance and speed slightly, as they seemed to have missed out a few minutes of scenes that could have been used to influence these decisions just a little bit more. There were some elements that were maybe a little cheesy, like where Jackson pulled Ally onto the stage to sing a song they had only recited once. Many of the issues and problems to be had with this film aren't massive problems or really even problems at all, merely speed bumps which slow down the pace but definitely don't hinder the overall ride.
Overall, I would give this film a 9.5 . It was absolutely amazing, it provided an amazing ecosystem to support the music theme, the actors and characters were amazing and they were portrayed in a really engaging and exciting manner throughout which helped to make this film an experience. But what I liked most about this film was how it gave me goosebumps during key scenes, these key scenes were so intriguing and engaging that you could have honestly heard a pin drop, and the way that the film ended? Devastating, but it was an insane way to end an insane film. Of course there were a few issues, including the length and cheesy nature of it, but if you can overlook these small criticisms then this film is definitely one of the best you will see all year. Whether you have an unlimited card or not, I would say that this film is definitely not one to be missed.
Thank you for reading my review, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did watching the film and writing this review. I would also like to thank you all for the amount of views I have received recently, I appreciate the support immensely! If you would like to get in contact I would really love to hear your feedback, you can leave that below. Thank you and have a lovely day! :)
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