Movie · 1976 · Drama, Music, Romance · 2h 20m · R · English
Curator score: 1.8/10 (31.2K ratings)
For anyone who has ever loved...
Overview
Drunken, has-been rock star John Norman Howard falls in love with unknown singer Esther Hoffman after seeing her perform at a club. He lets her sing a few songs at one of his shows and she becomes the talk of the music industry. Esther's star begins to rise, while John's continues to fall. She tries desperately to get John to sober up and focus on his music, but it may be too late to save him.
Ratings
Curator score: 1.8/10
IMDb: 6.1/10
Letterboxd: 2.97/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 37%
Metacritic: 59
TMDB: 6.0/10
Director
Frank Pierson
Production
Barwood Films, Warner Bros. Pictures, First Artists
Cast
Barbra Streisand, Kris Kristofferson, Gary Busey, Oliver Clark, Venetta Fields, Clydie King, Marta Heflin, M.G. Kelly, Sally Kirkland, Joanne Linville, Uncle Rudy, Paul Mazursky, Stephen Bruton, Sammy Creason, Cleve Dupin, Donnie Fritts, Dean Hagen, Booker T. Jones, Jerry McGee, Art Munson
Curator Review
Verdict
A glossy, uneven 1970s rock-romance melodrama with a strong central performance and enough big musical moments to satisfy fans of Barbra Streisand, but the chemistry is shaky and the story can feel self-indulgent and dated. It’s more interesting as a time-capsule of the era and as a star vehicle than as a fully satisfying love story.
Best for
fans of 1970s melodrama and star vehicles
viewers who want a performance-first music romance
people interested in the A Star Is Born story across different eras
fans of Barbra Streisand or Kris Kristofferson
viewers who enjoy campy, overblown Hollywood drama
Skip if
you need strong romantic chemistry
you dislike self-indulgent 70s style
you want a tightly written or emotionally subtle drama
you are not interested in concert-style musical sequences
you prefer polished modern remakes
Overview
This version of A Star Is Born is less a clean tragedy than a messy, very 1970s showcase for celebrity, excess, and emotional collapse. The move from Hollywood to rock stardom gives it a looser, rougher texture than earlier versions, and that can be part of the appeal: it feels like a movie trying to live inside the era it’s depicting, even when the result is awkward or overripe.
Worth noting
Barbra Streisand is the movie’s main event, and the film knows it. Whenever it leans into performance, it has real force, especially when the story pauses to let her command the frame. Kris Kristofferson brings a weathered, bruised presence that suits the material, but the romance itself is uneven, and the film often feels more interested in the spectacle of fame than in making the relationship believable.
Bottom line
If you like your melodrama big, shaggy, and a little ridiculous, there’s enough here to enjoy. If you want a more balanced or emotionally disciplined version of the story, this one may frustrate you. As a star vehicle and a snapshot of 1970s showbiz aesthetics, though, it remains worth a look.
Top Letterboxd reviews
nigel (1.5★) · 966 likes
I absolutely lost my shit at the beginning of the movie when the MC introduced the singing group “The Oreos” and Barbra Streisand came out of nowhere rising up between two black female singers singing funk.
Patrick Willems (2.5★) · 556 likes
This is everything that seems annoying about the 70s in one movie
Emma Stefansky · 296 likes
I lost?? my mind?? during the bathtub scene?? the candles on the cans of Schlitz?? the glittery fake eyebrows?? what in the WORLD I am dEAD I’ve DIED
Raymond Zrike (1★) · 241 likes
Thirty minutes in, my mom turned to me and said, “See? This is why I hated the ‘70s.”
Matt Goldberg (1★) · 200 likes
It was a bold choice to make a romance movie where the leads have absolutely no chemistry.