Thoughts on A Star is Born (spoilers)

Bradley Cooper stars as Jackson Maine, an alcoholic country/rock singer who has been in the spotlight since his teens; he started as a guitarist for his brother (Sam Elliott) and went on to superstardom.  He meets Ally (Lady Gaga) by chance one night when he happens into a drag bar where she performs after her Friday night waitress shift.  It is one of those things where they meet and basically are never apart again.  The first perhaps half hour of the movie consists of their first twenty-four hours together, in which they meet, drink, and talk songwriting all night. This leads to her blowing off a waitress shift to join him at a concert, where he unexpectedly pulls her onstage to join him in a duet.  From there, it is a whirlwind: she joins him on tour and is offered a solo record contract; her career and their relationship progress as his addiction spirals out of control.

There is a lot to like about this movie; their duet "Shallow" is a showstopper, and the rest of the soundtrack is solid, particularly "Always Remember Us This Way," which Ally performs solo on the piano.  Gaga turns in a consistently strong performance.  Cooper speaks in a mumbly, "grizzled" voice that is hard to decipher at times, and it's problematic that so much of the movie, particularly following the couple's first couple of days together, is told from Jack's perspective.  Jack has a problem with the makeover she receives after getting her record deal, and with her new, poppier sound; while some of the songs we see are, perhaps, a little silly, she isn't really doing anything wrong-- his problems seem to come at least partly between a preference for a country/rock style and look vs. a pop style and look, and since we see most of these parts of the movie from his perspective, this preference is presented as somehow "better."  He also has a talent for expressing his opinions at times that make it hard to believe that he isn't at least partly driven by jealousy and resentment, such as when she is first offered a record deal and when she receives news of her first Grammy nomination.  The pacing is also a bit off, with so much of the movie taking place in their first couple of days together and then speeding quickly through their tour together and the progression of her career.  Regardless, the movie doesn't feel overly long despite its two hour and seventeen minute run time; Gaga and Cooper have great chemistry; and both characters are compelling to watch even when it is clear that Jack is going nowhere good fast.