A Star is Born

"A Star is Born" stars Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Sam Elliott and Andrew Dice Clay in a film directed by Mr. Cooper and co-written by him, Eric Roth and Will Fetters. Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga give superb performances with special kudos to Ms. Gaga who was a pleasant surprise both as to her acting and vocal talent.

Unfortunately, for this viewer at least, I was, throughout the film, extremely conscious of the Janet Gaynor/Frederick March, James Mason/Judy Garland and Kris Kristofferson/Barbara Streisand versions of the film and because of that, they got in the way of my ability to just sit back and watch the scenes in the latest remake  unfold. Although set in the genre of contemporary rock music, the film differs little from its predecessors with the viewer knowing exactly how each predictable circumstance would play out and curious only as to how the newest version might modify the old. There should be a statute of limitations on how many times you can remake a film and this latest one is a good argument for it. I give the film 2 and 1/2 stars and suggest that it be seen by only two types of audiences, one looking to see Lady Gaga in a totally new dimension and the other for that rare individual who never saw any of other three films.