What Bradley Cooper's 'A Star Is Born' Gets Right That the Others Don't

Against all odds, the 2018 A Star is Born was a sensational hit, with people so enraptured by Cooper and Gaga on screen that they were trying to will a real-life relationship between them into existence. Because of its long-running source material that goes back to 1937, Cooper's film needed to reflect on the history of the series, as it will always be compared to its predecessors. Still, Cooper made it his own story with biting commentary on show business and the futility of romance between artists.

Bradley Cooper Honors the Long History of 'A Star Is Born'

Across the 81 years of A Star is Born movies, the basic synopsis for A Star is Born has remained unchanged (other than the transition from acting to music, as the 1976 Frank Pierson film starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson was solely about musicians). Each film is refreshingly simple plot-wise, but emotionally complex in its characterization. In the 2018 version, the male lead, Jackson Maine (Cooper), is a rock-and-roll star whose life is slowly deteriorating due to substance abuse. The female lead, Ally (Gaga), is a struggling but gifted singer. When Jackson meets her, in awe of her beauty and talent, he is determined to elevate her status. Following her show-stopping "Shallow" performance, Ally vaults to superstardom while Jackson's life spirals into a bleak void.

Cooper's film samples the most refined elements of the previous installments. Despite the success of the 2018 version and the revelation of Cooper as a filmmaker, the 1954 George Cukor film starring Judy Garland and James Mason is the crown jewel of the unofficial series. The second installment is an archetypal '50s Hollywood epic with the intimacy of a character drama, with its dramatic stakes enhanced by the meta-textual commentary on Garland's tragic life. While it can't fully replicate the monumental implications of Cukor's film, Cooper extracts its searing melodrama and epic scope — an impressive feat for a first-time filmmaker.

Frank Pierson's 1976 film — the weakest of the quartet — is dull and awkwardly paced despite Streisand's efforts to carry it on her back. However, the grungy, hard-living, rock-and-roll atmosphere of Pierson's film is mirrored in Cooper's. The original 1937 film by William A. Wellman starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March might seem outdated from the outset, but its commentary on the perils of the entertainment industry is just as relevant today, and Cooper portrays the damaging effects of show business on one's personal life.

Although the story is timeless, and many would argue that the Cukor film is unimpeachable, A Star is Born was due for a reinterpretation through modern gender sensibilities. Luckily, Cooper's film tackled these ideas without resorting to preachy character beats. Lady Gaga's Ally is an autonomous woman captivated by Jackson's fame and lavish life with enough skepticism to avoid the same self-destructive path as him. In general, Cooper tones down the glamor of the rock-and-roll milieu, making Jack's sharp decline only more tragic.

Where the previous iterations allude to Jackson/Norman's life of excess, Cooper, in a groundbreaking on-screen turn, embodies the life, giving a gruff but layered performance as a man with a 24/7 hangover. Since its inception, the series reflects on the gender politics of show business by underlining what happens to egotistical men when their precious ingénues surpass them as performers. Without ever sanitizing Jack's tragic downfall, the 2018 film refrains from placing indirect blame on Ally's rise to success.

Bradley Cooper's film, a classic tearjerker with modern sensibilities, combines the epic grandeur of the '54 film with the raw grittiness of the '76 film. Beginning with their initial meet-cute to Ally's meteoric rise to fame as Jackson's life crumbles, the Jackson and Ally romance manages to feel earth-shatteringly seismic while remaining grounded in scope — a credit to Cooper's quiet, documentary-like visual language. In particular, Cooper's layout of the concert performances, shot claustrophobically to emphasize the symbiotic bond between Jack and Ally, underscores the correlation between art and love. Their passion for music as an outlet for personal expression drew them together, but it's also what led to Jack's demise. Cooper's Star is Born has the bite of a politically charged film about the toxicity of the entertainment industry with the bleeding heart of a hopeful but futile romance.

A Star is Born is available to watch on Max in the U.S.

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