There is a lot of love from critics for Bradley Cooper’s A Star is Born, certainly enough to put it in contention for the major awards, as predicted already by many. Lady Gaga is singled out for her work and presence overall. Manohla Dargis makes it a critics’ pick, and ends her review this way:
Male self-aggrandizement is baked into the story’s foundation but not ruinously. Jack doesn’t just help turn Ally into a star, giving her the big break she needs. His trauma — she’s insecure, but he’s damaged — becomes a deep well that she draws from, allowing her to become a greater artist. In part, the story is as creaky as that of Pygmalion, the male sculptor who turns a beloved carving into a woman. Yet one of the pleasures of “A Star Is Born” in all its renditions is that it is also about a woman whose ambitions are equal to those of any man and who steadily rises as she weeps and sings toward fabulous self and sovereignty.
And though it’s behind a paywall, Joe Moregenstern at the Wall Street Journal also clearly went for it.
It clocks in with only 9 negatives on Rotten Tomatoes, and is on track to make a lot of money. Pundits have it predicted to win Best Picture. And in the old days of the Oscar race it definitely would be on track to do just that. But the race doesn’t work the way it used to and there are a lot of things that have to happen before that happens. It does, however, seem to be a film that, if there were only five contenders, it would be in the top five. It just depends where it goes from here, what the chatter is around it, what the general sentiment is. Was it hyped too much? Does it hit the sweet spot? Is it “important” enough? Can Lady Gaga win? Can Cooper win Best Director?
These are all unanswerable questions. As with all things Oscar, you just have to wait it out.
