Singer, Lady Gaga and box-office hit star, Bradley Cooper take up the roles of up and coming singer Ally and big star singer, Jackson Maine. There had been versions of this story filmed in the 30s, 50s and 70s. Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson starred in the 1976 version.
Ally is living with her father, and is on the verge of giving up her hopes of a singing career. Fate intervenes when she meets Jackson Maine, and he encourages her to further explore her songwriting and singing talent. Along the way the couple fall in love, but while Jackson slips into alcoholism, Ally’s career rises. Then Jackson’s situation starts to infringe on Ally’s burgeoning stardom.
A clash of happenings between both talented musicians bring them to the edge of disaster that can only lead to new heartache.
Lady Gaga is absolutely marvellous in the role of Ally. Her singing is superb, as you’d expect anyway due to her music career, and her creation of the role of Ally never diminishes for a second of film. She portrays the humble character with humility, and it’s no wonder that she is nominated for a Golden Globe award and an Oscar nomination will surely beckon next year.
Bradley Cooper has got a fantastic singing voice, and he plays the part of Jackson like he was born for the role. Concert footage in the movie is fantastic, where the massive crowds cheer on Jackson and Ally to singing success.
Cooper too deserves the acting nomination of the Golden Globe, because of his meltdown performance alone.
However the 1976 and 2018 movies are very similar, with the exception of the odd mention of YouTube and mobile phones around.
Bobby, a character in the 2018 movie is a father figure for Jackson, who was played by Sam Elliott. He would be a great option for Best Supporting Actor in next years Oscars.
The 2018 story is positively brought up to date with the gay characters in the movie. Jackson first encounters Ally singing in a Drag bar, and her best friend in the movie is a gay man, Ramon who is played by Anthony Ramos.
As director, Bradley Cooper has created a classic. He was helped by the great performances of his lead and supporting cast, writes David Flynn. The music is also superb along the way, and is a worthy successor to the 1976 movie.
