Lady Gaga Is a 'Complete 'Revelation' as an Actress

Who needs to see yet another remake of A Star Is Born? You do, say the critics, thanks to director and star Bradley Cooper's bold decision to cast Lady Gaga as his co-star. The film has a strong 93% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, though audiences are bit less enthusiastic at 83%. A sample of what the critics are saying:

• Gaga's "disarming, naturalistic presence is crucial to the movie’s force," writes Manohla Dargis in the New York Times. "She has been stripped down here, her mask removed. You can see her skin, the flutter in her veins, which brings you close to her, and can make both the actress and her character feel touchingly vulnerable."
• "Cooper has managed to do the impossible," writes Mark Daniell in the Toronto Sun. "He’s put together an instant movie classic that will have audiences falling in love with his brand new creation." Cooper's own strong performance may not be a surprise, but Gaga's? We knew she could sing, "but as an actress, she’s a complete revelation."

• Pay attention early, advises Ty Burr in the Boston Globe. "The opening 45 minutes of A Star Is Born are as good as mainstream moviemaking gets in the 21st century, and the rest is only slightly less impressive for being so familiar." As for Gaga: "The role of Ally is so meta as to cast doubt on whether Lady Gaga can play other kinds of parts; the performance is so galvanizing that you don’t remotely care."
• Gaga has done some crazy things on stage, writes Johnny Oleksinski in the New York Post. "But her biggest transformation occurs in the new film A Star Is Born. In it, she becomes an Oscar-worthy actress." Gaga shows "brilliant restraint," and Cooper shows a deft hand as a director, especially in the stage scenes. It's simply "the best film of the year so far."

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