[Smithy]

Bradley Cooper’s Triumphant A Star is Born is an Instant Classic
Occasionally you see a movie and immediately know it's up there with the all-time greats. Now is one of those rare times.

It’s one of those rare movies that grabs you from the opening shot and then just gets better and better with each passing scene; within the first few minutes, you know you’re in the hands of a born filmmaker and can just sit back with the trust that your faith will be rewarded – which it is, many times over.

The result is a film with the breadth of an epic ensemble piece and the intimacy and undiluted emotional impact of a character study by Bergman or Cassavetes. And it’s not just a movie of multiple points of view – it’s a movie of multiple subjects and even multiple styles and genres, all of which are kept in perfect tonal balance by Cooper.

The undeniable standout is Lady Gaga, whose performance here goes far beyond what we typically think of as great acting and moves into the territory of, say, Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under the Influence. The role requires her to play every note on the emotional scale from the depths of despair to the joyous exuberance, and Gaga is flawless in every scene. Her work proves the cliché about the specific becoming universal, as she plays each moment in surprising, unique ways and makes bold choices no other actress would conceive of, yet gives each of those moments a profound and affecting sense of recognition for the audience – every triumph and every heartbreak feels utterly honest and relatable, and it all builds to one of the most emotionally shattering finales I’ve ever encountered in a movie.

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An Oscar is BORN