The 1976 remake, with the musical scenario switched from showtunes to rock, concerning a star-crossed marriage with one career on the upswing and the other in decline. Despite updating the milieu (which gives this new version some groovy pizazz for awhile), the time-worn plot is still heavily narcissistic, with masochism built into its formula (everyone suffers and swoons with such relish!). Barbra Streisand, after catching hubby Kris Kristofferson in bed with a female reporter, spits at her spouse, bites his lip, and claws his bare back, all the while whispering, "I hate you...I hate you..." finally turning into "I love you...I love you." Cut! Dissolve to a scene where the two are now riding horseback in the desert! Streisand's songs trump the show-biz clichés, and her dramatic closing number is a magnificent (if grand-standing) show-stopper, but the movie loses its focus in the second act, straying into the Arizona sunshine and staying there forever. We get glimpses of stardom--the high life--but the focus is much more on the melodrama. **1/2 from ****
Review of A Star Is Born
