A Star Is Born (2018) * * *

Directed by:  Bradley Cooper

Starring:  Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Sam Elliott, Andrew Dice Clay, Dave Chappelle, Rafi Gavron

The first half of A Star Is Born was my worst fears realized about the film:   It was about showing us the musical skills of Bradley Cooper and, of course, Lady Gaga.    The dramatic scenes felt like they were killing time until the next musical number.    In the second half, the movie finds its footing and its focus, becoming an immensely powerful and resonant look at the hell of addiction.     The musical performances were needed to establish Lady Gaga's Ally (just Ally, no last name) as a legit talent whose rising star soon eclipses the fading glory of her mentor turned husband, country singer Jackson Maine (Cooper).    

This is the fourth telling of A Star Is Born and Cooper, as a first-time director, wisely avoids what made its most recent 1976 predecessor such a disappointment:   It doesn't turn into a mere showcase for Gaga to belt out a few new songs and sell a soundtrack.    It settles on the more compelling story of Maine's descent into a hellish existence.    As the film opens, Maine is about to go on stage while popping pills and washing them down with alcohol.    He is losing his hearing, but still packs them in on tour.    After the show, he runs out of alcohol, and stops into a drag bar to refuel when he sees Ally performing.    She is, of course, not a drag performer, and Jackson is enthralled by the waitress/part-time singer/songwriter.  

Faster than you can say "A Star Is Born", Ally is soon accompanying Jackson on tour and performing one of her own songs, the very good "Shallow", and thus overcoming her lack of confidence in performing her own stuff.    Many performers would love to continue performing to worshipful sell-out crowds, but Jackson carries so much baggage he can't see he is still in a pretty good place.     His alcoholism and drug use alarms his older brother/caretaker Bobby (Elliott) to the point that Bobby says enough is enough and quits the tour.    Some of the best scenes in the movie carry extra emotional weight thanks to a smart, knowing, and sympathetic Elliott performance, who has walked miles for Jackson but finds he can walk no further.

Besides Cooper and Gaga, A Star Is Born has touching supporting performances by comedians Andrew Dice Clay as Ally's limo driver father and Dave Chappelle as Noodles, a longtime friend of Jackson's who advises him to settle down; advice which Jackson doesn't heed.    As well as Gaga sings (naturally) and acts, the movie ultimately belongs to Cooper, who does the heaviest dramtic lifting.   A Star Is Born thankfully avoids the clichés of rising stardom, which means Ally would have to turn into an aloof jerk who is completely oblivious to her husband's suffering.    Lady Gaga's Ally is grounded, hard working, and self-contained.    She is the steadying, calming hand for Jackson, who loves her but loves his drinking more.

Cooper's version of A Star Is Born gets right what its 1976 predecessor starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson got wrong.    In the 1976 film version, Kristofferson turns to heavy drug use in response to his envy over his wife's burgeoning stardom, but let's face it, the movie was made to showcase Streisand and it overshadowed everything else.    It was her vanity project.    Cooper remade the story because he add something more to say.    Jackson is already a mess when he stumbled onto Ally.    In a strange way, Ally's stardom gives him at least some hope for a way out of his downward spiral.    But, sadly, tragically, and somewhat inevitably, hope dissipates at the bottom of a glass.