<em>A Star Is Born</em> Is a Magnificent New Take on a Hollywood Myth
Bradley Cooper directs, writes, and performs alongside Lady Gaga as a rock musician who discovers, and falls in love with, a talented ingenue.
begins with Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper), an old-fashioned, gravel-voiced, rock-and-roll star, maniacally jamming out onstage in front of a screaming crowd of thousands. He plays with a trancelike intensity, but when the concert’s over, he becomes a zombie; his ears are still ringing when he commands his driver to take him to the nearest place he can get a drink. He parks himself at a tiny, cramped bar whose own show is about to begin. The scene is bathed in
