While this is ostensibly a portrait of one of the great artists of the 20th Century, its most fascinating note is its revelation of Bradley Cooper as a director who, like his subject, won’t settle for the ordinary.
David Fincher’s ice-cold kind of comedy is admirable, and a good exercise for the analytical. But what I couldn’t figure out is why all of this didn’t add up to something more fun.
This is a movie with a clear goal. It aims to be inspirational, a crowd pleaser. And, for the most part, it succeeds. But it also glides past a few, more subtle or complicated things, moments which might have made this movie the stand up and cheer hit it wants to be.
What a confluence of greatness here. Martin Scorsese and a collection of artists have given us a gift of stunning cinema that’s also a big, epic movie. And it is so much fun to watch.
A likeable enough adaptation, but throughout, I couldn’t help but wonder how the novel’s legions of fans would take to it. Because there has been a major change to this none-too-subtle story of womanhood in the 1950’s, maybe because the filmmakers thought there weren’t “Lessons” enough in the much beloved book?