The movie that sends a powerful message about image, love, and drug abuse all rolled into one
“Look, talent comes everywhere, but having something to say and a way to say it so that people listen to it, that’s a whole other bag. And unless you get out and you try to do it, you’ll never know.” – Jackson Maine
This is the third reboot of this movie and while I’m usually never one for a reboot, I have to say I was thoroughly impressed, even if I did call the ending from one hundred miles away. Fair warning, spoilers from here on in.
Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut was nothing shy of stunning, which makes perfect sense considering the rumors going around that he payed attention to every last detail, right down to the t-shirts of the extras.
The movie follows Ally (Lady Gaga), an incredibly talented singer who has been rejected by every agent she’s been in contact with due to her “big nose.” One night at a bar she meets Jackson “Jack” Maine (Bradley Cooper), a country/rock star known by everyone, everywhere, on tour with his crew and manager brother (Sam Elliot). It’s love at first sight for these two and when Jack brings her on stage at one of his shows, the on stage chemistry is electric. Ally goes on tour with him as their relationship takes off – writing songs the two perform, or songs she performs solo. From this, Ally is signed with a record label and becomes a ridiculously successful star, all while her boyfriend, and eventual husband, sinks deeper into his alcohol abuse and drug addiction. This all leads to the final straw for Ally when Jack embarrasses her at the Grammy’s when she wins the award for “Best New Artist.” Finally, Ally’s manager goes to see Jack several months later after Jack has gotten out of rehab. Life is going well for Ally and Jack, but Ally wants to bring Jack on tour and her manager says no, so she threatens to cancel. This brings Ally’s manager to tell Jack that he’s only holding her back and always will, which drives Jack to the act of killing himself, presumably to “set her free.” The movie ends with a sniveling audience and a belting Lady Gaga as the film closes with Ally singing a love song Jack had secretly written for her.
While the plot is nothing new, i.e. the two other versions of this movie released in 1937 and 1976, Cooper does manage to put his own spin on things by modifying some details, such as how Jackson kills himself at the end with the ceiling fan and belt, as an homage to his younger self and the story he told his therapist about failing to kill himself that way as a teen. The most noticeable trait Cooper plays with, however, is the lighting, and it’s arguably the best part of the entire movie.
After about a half hour, I knew something bad was coming for us at the end of the movie. How did I know this? The lights. The blue bar with red interior lighting, the way Gaga is lit every time she enters a room, the way their house in Tennessee is lit, and more all points to one thing – emergency vehicle lights. The constant red and blue, red and blue lighting everywhere made it feel like the entire movie was lit by a police siren, and sure enough, the scene where Jack’s body is discovered is literally lit by police lights. It felt so subtle and cool, and yet so obviously deliberate that I was almost annoyed at myself for not putting it together sooner. While you’re just watching the movie, the lighting design is beautiful, but it’s not until you reach the end that you also realize it’s brilliant.
On a bit of a personal note, the best part about this movie was watching Ally overcome her self confidence issues surrounding her nose. She knows she’s an incredible singer, and not for one second does she doubt her talent. What she does doubt is her look, and it’s so fantastic to watch her hurdle that barrier for herself. As someone who has never liked her nose, I really found myself empathetic to Ally’s situation. Coming out of this movie I felt better about myself, and more confident in how I look, knowing that (despite this being fiction), one can succeed despite something we may see as flaws.
The next best feature of this movie is the freaking soundtrack! The teaser for the film featured a piece of the song “Shallow” which is definitely one of the most beautiful songs on the album, but is not the only spectacular tune by far. “I’ll Always Remember Us This Way” is a song Gaga performs solo and is such a power ballad, and “Maybe It’s Time” sounds like pure acoustic love. Some of the later songs are more pop and less meaningful, but this is for a plot effect trying to show how Ally is losing the meaning behind her music on her road to fame. However, let it be known that these songs, however rudimentary the lyrics may be, those songs are still bops.
The final big thing that this movie got right was creating the attachment to the characters in a short amount of time. Movies are challenging because it is hard to get people to care about characters in such a short amount of time. Cooper and his team did an incredible job creating characters that were instantly likable, despite their flaws, and creating a situation that we immediately want them to be out of. Even when Jack’s drug abuse is at it’s worst, we want him to pull through, not just for Ally’s sake, but for his own. And when Jack kills himself for the woman he loves, everyone in the audience cries not just for the (albeit fictional) life lost, but because we know what this is going to do to Ally. Even if you know the ending of the movie going in, it’s almost like Romeo and Juliet where you watch the movie hoping and praying that the ending will be different, even though you know you know how it will end and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.
Now that I’m done doting on it, there were some problems I had with the film, specifically some time issues. The movie was entirely too fast. I don’t mean the run time of the film, I mean the time line of the film and how quickly everything happens. At first I liked how quickly we were getting into the action of Ally being on stage with Jackson, writing songs, and traveling the country. But then everything started to pick up and the time line just stopped making sense all together. Their puppy grew into a fully grown dog too quickly, she was nominated and won a Grammy, they got married, she kicked him out of the house, he went to rehab, all over the span of no one knows how long of a time frame. Time itself seemed to just bend during this film and I’m not sure how this got overlooked?
Let’s be clear: this is not a happy movie. From the beginning, we are introduced to two wildly unhappy people, just trying to make something good come from their lives. From this search, they find each other and ultimately love, but that love destroys (literally) one of them, and essentially ruins the other. This is not the happy ending anyone wanted, but it is a poetic ending, highlighting the idea that life is fleeting and we must make the most of every moment we have with the people we love. We must support, stand behind, and help those we love because sometimes they need help. Watching Ally struggle to save Jack from himself is painful and heartbreaking, but it is something millions of people do for their loved ones struggled with drug and alcohol addictions. The way these two portray this tragic story is something that will help this movie live on. Beyond that, the feeling of overwhelming despair the audience leaves with is even more telling because it takes some damn good production and some damn good actors to make us care so much about a fictional person in such a small amount of time.
Everything the movie got right – HIGHLIGHTS
- Positive body image message
- Lighting design 😍
- The INCREDIBLY beautiful, catchy soundtrack
- The fact that this is Bradley Cooper’s first attempt at directing and its really good
- Creating characters that we as an audience truly care about and want to end up happy
Everything the movie got wrong – LOWLIGHTS
- Time frame issues
- Pacing too quick
- Bradley Cooper trying to cry in the rehab scene
Rating
🙊🙊🙊🙊4/5 SPEAKS!
Cinema Speak 
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