Let me be up front, I am not going to purposely try to ruin the movie for you. I don't feel I can properly review it the way I want to though without touching on some of the topics that might be considered spoilers.

If that makes you not want to continue reading, I understand. Hopefully you will stop back for some of my other posts this week though.

If you are looking for a lighthearted movie about the music industry, this one isn't it. Those things are in this movie, but lighthearted is definitely not on the bill.

Actually, by the end @mrsbozz was pretty ticked off that she had even watched the thing. As a social worker she deals with a lot of bad in the world every day. If a movie doesn't end all sunshine and rainbows, she is usually quite put off by it.

I don't quite recall if this is Bradley Coopers directorial debut, but he has definitely come a long way from Alias as Sydney Bristow's(Jennifer Garner) ill-fated fiance. It was nice to see Greg Grunberg reunited with him even if it was just a short part as his driver.

Presumably Cooper and Grunberg have a friendship from their time on Alias if not before that has stood the test of time. Before I dig into my review too much more, I am going to embed the trailer for the movie from Youtube.

Cooper did a fantastic job of playing his tragic character in this movie. In fact there were was some pretty hard foreshadowing at the beginning of the movie that indicated where it was going. I actually knew what was going to happen before @mrsbozz because I had seen a "trigger" warning online.

I know a lot of people might think the whole "trigger" thing is just the new fad, but trauma is real and it is proven to change your brain chemistry. This movie has some pretty heavy and dark themes. I am not going to tell you not to watch it, but please make sure you are in the right frame of mind.

My biggest problem with Cooper's character of Jack is the dialogue. I know it was part of his persona and he was just playing the character, but I personally felt he was mumbling through most of the movie and it made it hard to understand half of what he was saying.

If you watch this and English isn't your first language you might want to turn the closed captions on, just in case.

I forgot to mention, this is actually the fourth iteration of this story that has come out of Hollywood. With the likes of Barbara Streisand and Judy Garland playing the female lead in the older versions, Lady Gaga definitely had some big shoes to fill.

I have to admit, I wasn't always a Lady Gaga fan. Her crazy antics when she first came on the scene were just a little too much for me. Like Miley Cyrus, I wasn't able to look past the outrageouness to see the pure raw talent that lay underneath(that's right, I am a Miley fan!).

I think Gaga shines in this role and in some ways I felt like it was a reversal of her actual career. Although it is a more mild theme, they do address show business and how it can change you. Gaga's character of Ally changed quite significantly as she gained more fame and recognition. The once shy timid songwriter/artist became more of a pop show piece and Jack could see how it was changing her. He stood by her though.

As I said, I feel Gaga's real career has been the opposite of that, starting with the crazy outrageous stuff and now settling into the singer/songwriter artist area that she so aptly fits. If you haven't listened to her duet album with Tony Bennett (Cheek to Cheek), you really need to.

I didn't cry at the end of the movie. Like I said, I knew what was coming, but I did have a lump in my throat about the size of a basketball.

Do I think it was a good movie?

I'd have to say yes. I think as a final grade I would probably give it a B+. The music was fantastic and I really want to dig into the soundtrack a little this week. The acting was a little shaky at first, but got better as the movie progressed. I think part of it was just the dialog.

Like I said though, the themes were heavy, like the movie Country Strong, this has some really hard scenes in it dealing with addiction. It's rated 'R' and I feel that is a pretty accurate rating.

I hope you enjoyed my first ever movie review. Thanks for reading.

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