Review of A Star Is Born

A Star is Born can be two completely different movies to two very similar people

You know what they say. Fourth time’s a charm.

I interpreted this movie in two completely separate ways. Just after I saw it, and after I talked to my wife about it.

After I had just seen it, I thought it was exactly the movie I assumed it would be. Some story of a rock star reaching down into the massive crowd of wannabe singers and finding a true gem, pulling her up to stardom, and falling in love with her. Yay. I enjoyed seeing the transformation of Gaga to become a star and the back and forth about how she was changing with her and Cooper, but I didn’t love it and I could see it coming. The end was a little contrived, and without Gaga having roots in the story that was actually told, it would have been a disappointment. 4 bugs/10.

Then I asked Jenn what she had thought (she saw it months ago on a plane). The first thing out of her mouth was about how it was a good depiction of someone who is suicidal and wished it had gone a little deeper in showing how suicide affects the people who live on.

Wow. Honestly, the suicide wasn’t even on my radar of things to talk about. But it should have been. I remember hearing from someone who thought they were suicidal saying that it isn’t necessarily if they will commit suicide, but when. Jenn went on to explain to me that this was a more grounded version of someone who is suicidal. They’re not always crying in the tub, but mostly people don’t notice the signs. Which is exactly what I didn’t notice during the movie. And in that case, this movie did a great job. Jenn went on to say that what often keeps people from committing suicide isn’t necessarily having a happy family life, but having a job or a task to complete. In Bradley Cooper’s case, it was turning Gaga into a star. And once that was complete, he had nothing left to do. 6 bugs/10

This movie took a huge turn about 12 hours after I finished watching it.

I wish I had watched it with that in mind, and maybe I will someday. But during the movie, I was stuck on Gaga and how she was selling out to become a star.

And then, a week later, I had a conversation about how contrived it is to use death as a method to affect the audience.

This friend was speaking about it in terms of why she liked Mad Men, but it brought me back here. And so I went back to my first opinion. Maybe this was contrived. I wish it made me think more about the suicide, but by the time it happened, I wasn’t. Maybe that’s my fault, or maybe it’s the fault of the movie. And so now I have no idea what I think. This actually happens quite often.

4-6 bugs/10

Dustin Fisher