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Review: ‘A Star is Born’ lives up to hype

It’s in the dying embers of a star that one will find the perfect ingredients for a new celestial body, and after watching “A Star is Born,” you’d probably think this doesn’t just apply to the stars in the sky.

In the newest remake of the 1937, “A Star is Born,” a film loosely based on the 1932, “What Price Hollywood?,” we find ourselves treated to the shining union of acting and singing talent with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper taking on the roles of aspiring musician, Ally, and slowly failing country star, Jackson Maine, respectively.

This musical romantic drama explores their wonderfully written and performed romance and the trials and tribulations that they face in the form of Maine’s private battle with alcohol and drug abuse.

A tragically accurate take on the life of a drug abuser alongside a very real look inside the life of a star’s rise and fall, “A Star is Born” feels real regardless of the topic it tries to take into account.

The acting talent of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper are accompanied by the likes of Sam Elliot and Dave Chappelle, and many others who have received critical acclaim for their part in this story.

With a beautiful soundtrack that seems to be born from the hearts of the character in a raw and emotional way, it is as the movie opens with Maine’s “Black Eyes” that you realize you need to buckle up in time for “La Vie en rose,” performed by Ally in her introduction to a drunk Jackson Maine.

Each song fits the soul of the movie as it moves along its tracks, rising and falling with the life of our two main characters, and giving us insight to the thoughts, feelings and emotions of the characters performing them.

There were of course some issues I thought could very well dampen what was otherwise a beautiful movie. As a remake of a 1937 movie, it certainly keeps some aspects of the plot.

Namely, there is a lot of focus on the life and troubles of Jackson Maine, but there is an argument that the same could not be said for Ally, who does not even have a last name until her marriage to Maine.

Yet, I believe that one could enjoy this movie in spite of its adherence to certain qualities of an outdated movie and definitely embodies the overall spirit of the originals went for, too.

In a nutshell, this movie is about the dangerous yet enticingly beautiful life of those the general public hold aloft as idols and how living amongst the stars can change who you are and what you value for better or worse.

For a movie that was stuck in developmental hell for several years, with a variety of actors vying for the lead and supporting rolls since 2011, it certainly deserves the critical acclaim it has been receiving worldwide.

Story by Payton Fletcher, Staff Writer. Gif courtesy of Tenor.

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