When we first see Lady Gaga in A Star Is Born , shes in a bathroom stall, dumping her boyfriend in the middle of a work shift. She hangs up the phone and storms out shrieking, hurling her torso toward the floor in anguish before hollering two maddened words to the heavens: Fucking men!

Of course, its not really Gaga who does this. Its Ally, the waitress who lives with her rowdy father (Andrew Dice Clay) and endures commands from her demanding boss (Jacob Schick). She has Gagas mannerisms and Gagas contralto, but Ally is a distinct creation a raw pop star who skirts the baggage that any established pop star with Gagas caliber brings to a screen role. Gaga, making her movie debut, is the real deal, and not only because she comes out kicking and screaming. Bradley Cooper, another unlikely force, brought the film to life its his directorial debut, and he plays her love interest but A Star Is Born is Gagas opus.

Hollywood has treasured this romantic tragedy since 1937s Technicolor original. Over the years, its commentary on the trials of fame and the tribulations women endure at the hands of male egos has become more and more trenchant, even though A Star Is Born is far more than just an indictment of fucking men. Ally is the latest update on a role that requires a mega-renowned and mega-talented celebrity, someone whos already familiar with the publics prying eye: Judy Garland as an actress in the first remake (1954), Barbra Streisand as a budding rock star in the second (1976) and now Gaga as a cabaret singer who goes from being too nervous to perform her own folksy songs to accepting the sensual pop-diva mold, replete with an orange-blonde dye job, oversized billboards and a dance bop that asks, Why do you look so good in those jeans? / Whyd you come around me with an ass like that?