<P> On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, A Star Is Born holds an approval rating of 90% based on 394 reviews, with an average rating of 8.1 / 10 . The website's critical consensus reads, "With appealing leads, deft direction, and an affecting love story, A Star Is Born is a remake done right--and a reminder that some stories can be just as effective in the retelling ." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 88 out of 100, based on 60 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported film - goers gave it a 90% positive score . </P> <P> Alonso Duralde of TheWrap gave the film a positive review, saying, "Cooper and Lady Gaga are dynamite together; this is a story that lives and dies by the central relationship and the instant chemistry that must blossom between them, and these two have it in spades," and praised the musical numbers, describing them as "electrifying". Owen Gleiberman of Variety lauded Cooper's directing, co-writing, and acting, and called the film "a transcendent Hollywood movie". Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B+, singling out Gaga's performance, saying, "she deserves praise for her restrained, human - scale performance as a singer whose real - girl vulnerability feels miles away from the glittery meat - dress delirium of her own stage persona ." Stephanie Zacharek of Time magazine found the film superior to its previous iterations and similarly praised Cooper's direction, the writing, as well the performances and chemistry of Cooper and Gaga . She stated: "You come away feeling something for these people, flawed individuals who are trying to hold their cracked pieces of self together--or to mend the cracks of those they love," also describing Gaga's performance as a "knockout ." </P> <P> In his review for Los Angeles Times, Justin Chang called the film "remarkable," and praised Cooper for his fresh take on the well - worn formula of 1937 film, as well his direction, the performances, writing, and the cinematography . Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film 4.5 out of five stars, and deemed it as a "modern classic," hailing the performances of Cooper and Gaga, and Cooper's direction . He found the film's screenplay and the original songs "seamless" and "terrific," and also called the film a major Oscar contender of the year and one of the year's best films . The Washington Post's Ann Hornaday described the film as "lavishly delightful" and "earthly convincing," and added that it "offers a suitably jaundiced glimpse of starmaking machinery at its most cynical, but also its most thrilling and gratifying ." She similarly praised Cooper's direction, the performances and chemistry of Cooper and Gaga, and the supporting performances, particularly Andrew Dice Clay and Sam Elliott . </P> <P> While praising the direction, acting, and writing, Michael Phillips in the Chicago Tribune argues that a A Star is Born's formula has always been very seductive to audiences, even when it has been written poorly, and Cooper's few missteps include being a bit of a scene hog . Admitting audiences love it, and he just liked it, Phillips drew attention to a skeptical review by Lindsey Romaine of Medium.com who criticized the story's marginalization of the Gaga character in dealing with Cooper's manipulative addict . She at least wanted a scene where Gaga's character processed her behavior of letting the addict boyfriend get away with it . Phillips argued that it is in part the skillful musicianship which gets audiences to blow past such flaws . </P>

Who's in the remake of a star is born