Why I somewhat understood that A Star Is Born didn't receive any Oscars
Except for the one for Best Song. Because if that hadn't happened, I would have started a protest, because that song is of course from a rare beauty. But let's talk about the movie for a moment.
At the office, we have two camps: the crybabies (I usually belong to that group too, but in this case, it's about the women who cried at ASIB) and the dry sticks (who really thought it was a beautiful movie, but just couldn't squeeze out a tear), where designer Lot and I belong.
Now I must say that the conditions for me weren't really present to reach for a pack of tissues. I was watching it on my laptop, my father was sitting two meters away watching Veronica Inside, and Johan Derksen is good for many things, but not exactly for elevating your sentiment to a higher level.
The soundtrack of the movie I play four times a day and since I saw the documentary Born This Way, I have been in love with Lady Gaga, but the movie. Well. I don't know. Let's just say I understand the Academy Awards jury quite well.
1. The scene in the bathroom
Do you remember? The beginning of the movie? Ally is standing in an otherwise empty restroom of the restaurant where she works and has a boyfriend on the phone who is breaking up with her or at least saying something she is not happy about. That reaction in front of the mirror. I seriously thought I was going to watch a musical.
That was not taken away when I saw her walking through the alley singing Tony Bennett's ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’. By the way, it was amazing because what a voice, but I just didn't know which train I had boarded.
2. The caricature of an alcoholic
Where I immediately say as a critic of myself that you could probably trust Bradley Cooper to portray a character who is addicted to alcohol, because he himself looked a bit too much and too often and especially too deeply into the glass for years. But I found it too much in sixth gear. From the very first second I saw Jackson Maine, everything about him screamed addict, something about the rock star moving over the hill. I didn't need that whiskey bottle in the car after the concert for that. It was, as far as I was concerned, a bit too much of thick wood saws planks.
3. Bradley's voice
I know he took lessons for years with a ‘dialect coach’ to achieve this voice sound and that's quite impressive, but I got a bit too much of the TV Cantine idea from it. I've never heard anyone speak so low, and it came across to me as a viewer as if he took a breath with every sentence, letting it sink deep into his lungs and then quickly throwing out his lines to gasp for air again. It was therefore so staccato and unnatural.
4. Jackson Maine's jealousy
I found it quite flatly portrayed. Because in a certain way, I understood him. A star of his status could indeed see that a manager like the guy who comes into Ally's life does not bring out the best in her. He knows that dancers and colored hair do not fit her genre. I found it a shame that he didn't get the chance to say that to her. It would have made him a richer character.
5. Ally's love
I didn't understand or see what she fell in love with. Yes, the scene at the supermarket was beautiful. I understand very well that she couldn't resist his offer to go to his concert, but for me, it was quite unclear that she went to sleep in his room instead of with the boyfriend who went with her. In my eyes, it was far too easy and I didn't think that matched the image of the strong person that Ally is.
6. Ally's mother
Ally lives with her father, who is quite dominant in her presence. I completely miss the story of her mother. What happened to her? That could be the bridge to her love for Jackson, because with him, I only hear the father role.
7. Ally's music
I didn't understand anything about the musical path she took in the movie. So from the sensitive, straight-to-your-heart songs, you suddenly go to upbeat poppy songs with dancers? Is that what Ally wanted? Is that where her strength lay? I understood very little of that.
8. Maybe Ally was too sweet
Jackson hadn't built up that much credit with her. It's not like they had been together for a hundred years and you want to cash in on something. Now I found the balance between fun and misery quite off and I expected a strong, talented, intelligent woman like Ally to have given him a proverbial corrective tap a bit earlier.
9. The suicide
That hit me way too raw and abruptly. Also because I didn't want it to happen, but also because it just was. It was a bit too fast and too flat for me.
Of course, there were also a thousand beautiful moments. The hugging scene with the dog, the moment Ally protects Jackson on the Grammy stage and stands in front of him so that no one can see that he has peed his pants, the song at the end, the scene where Ally looks at her boyfriend and decides to leave her job and jumps into the car with a driver on the way to Jackson, but all in all, I would have liked it to have gone a bit deeper, with the added benefit that the movie would have lasted even longer because I really can't get enough of these two.
And yes, Bradley, for your next movie you can definitely hire me for some tips and advice. I would love to.
