A Star is Born leaves you Starstruck

A Star is Born hit theatres on October 5th, 2018 and deserves all the Oscar buzz it’s been receiving thanks to amazing performances by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.

Bradley Cooper directs and stars as Jackson Maine, a mix between a country and rock star who falls in love with Lady Gaga’s character, Ally, an aspiring singer. She claims that the music industry likes the way she sings but not the way she looks thanks to her prominent nose. Maine expresses his hatred of the music industry for pushing people into boxes they don’t have to be in and devotes a majority of his time helping Ally feel comfortable with performing on stage with him the way she is. As Ally’s career takes off and her life is changing for the better, Jackson’s career is going downhill due to his battle with addiction. Throughout the movie, Jackson struggles with a drug and pills addiction as well as hearing problems. Despite having a successful career and strong, loving relationship with Ally, Jackson reaches his own breaking point and gives up on his battle with addiction.

Senior Jonathan Kha said, “I watched it the Wednesday of the premiere week because I’m a huge Lady Gaga fan and she was in it. I really liked the music obviously; I thought the soundtrack was incredible.” He also, “thought it was interesting how it touched on topics of addiction in the music industry and it really opened my eyes to that.”

Freshman Marissa Delgadillo at first didn’t want to watch it but, “my aunt really wanted to watch it so I went. I didn’t think I’d like it and some parts were long and slow.” Delgadillo said. “I ended up liking it a lot though. The music was catchy and it was pretty sad.”

Junior Yaman Inamdar has yet to see it but is looking forward to it.

“I do want to watch it because I’ve heard so much about it. The commercial is always on the radio or tv, so I think I should” Inamadar said.

Out of the four versions of “A Star is Born” this is the first where the male lead isn’t jealous of the female lead’s successful career. Now in 2018, that attitude would seem to be taking steps backward and repeating the same old message that women can’t be successful because it might hurt their partner’s ego. Those who might have been fans of the other versions can notice little nods to them like the outlining of Ally’s nose and humming of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”.

What I didn’t notice until after watching the movie was that Bradley Cooper put a great deal of thought into each choice he made for the movie. He cast his own dog making the relationship between them even sweeter but the ending even more heartbreaking.

Also, two scenes, in particular, foreshadow events that don’t happen until later in the movie. One is when Ally and Jackson are hanging out in a grocery store parking lot singing and the lighting is set up as it would be on a concert stage. The other one is easy to miss and is shown on a billboard that Jackson Maine drives by on the way to a bar right before meeting Ally.

This movie helps showcase the range that Lady Gaga truly has. I’m a big fan of movies that have strong soundtracks that go with it like “La La Land” and “Baby Driver” and this one has quickly made its way to being one of my favorite soundtracks at the moment.

I’m not typically a person who cries while watching movies but this one really got to me. The combination of both the flashbacks and the song that Gaga sang at the end really just made the tears fall down.

Gaga and Cooper both spent a long time developing a strong chemistry before filming and it paid off because you can see it shown throughout the movie. Their characters are so raw and true and shine a light into what it’s like to be in a relationship with someone battling with addiction.

This movie will hit close to home for anyone who knows someone who has struggled with addiction. Even if you haven’t experienced it in your own life this movie will make you feel like you have and tear at your heartstrings. Once you see it you’ll want to go see it again or blast the soundtrack through your house to relive it.