A STAR IS BORN: overwhelmed by ego

There's been much speculation over the years as to how different the 1976 version of A STAR IS BORN would have been had Elvis taken the part played by Kris Kristofferson. Barbra Streisand reportedly personally offered the part to Presley during a backstage visit in Las Vegas and he was keen to take it. It could have marked the beginning of a creative revival for the bored and frustrated singer, but the deal was scuppered by his manager Colonel Parker who demanded top billing and a million dollar fee for himself.

It's easy to blame Parker for destroying Elvis' last shot at redemption but the reality is that Elvis would never have appeared in the version that made it to cinema screens. A STAR IS BORN is a vehicle for Streisand's ego (and undeniable talent) and just as much as the Colonel wouldn't take second billing for his boy, Babs wouldn't have accepted second billing to Elvis. A STAR IS BORN is her project (she's also executive producer) and the film is all about her, from the soft focus close-ups to the multitude of songs she gets to sing in their entirety. Contrast that with Kristofferson's character, booze and drug-addicted has-been rock star John Norman Howard. He's photographed without the benefit of filters and gets only 2 or 3 opportunities to sing just part of the same song.
To an extent this is understandable. The story chronicles Howard's discovery of Esther Hoffman (Streisand) a talented new singing sensation and the ascendency of her star as his descends. Howard's erratic, self-destructive behaviour is alienating his management and his fans leaving Esther as the only one who still believes in him, but even she is powerless to save him from himself. It's a scenario which Elvis probably felt was a little too close to home for him to feel comfortable with, and I'm sure many of his fans would have had trouble accepting him as the victim and Babs as the heroine.
This third version of the story switches the milieu from Hollywood to the music business and suffers as a result. Director Frank Pierson seems to have applied the recording industry's sometimes disorganised and ego-driven approach to the film's structure giving us a story which feels sprawling, slow moving and self-indulgent. For a narrative driven film there's way too much singing Streisand. We don't need five complete songs to get the message that she's a big and genuine talent with a beautiful voice particularly when - with the exception of 'Evergreen' - the songs are distinctly unmemorable and overblown.

As an actress she's perhaps a little too old and worldly-wise to be entirely convincing as an ingenue but her love for Howard is touching and moving. Kristofferson acquits himself well and it's interesting (and ironic) to see a young Gary Busey as Howard's manager trying unsuccessfully to keep his wayward charge away from the excesses of the rock lifestyle.
Having thoroughly enjoyed the first two versions of A STAR IS BORN I was eager to see how this update would work and - unfortunately - I found that it doesn't. With it's meandering narrative and over-indulgence of Streisand's ego this is easily the weakest of the three. With a little more restraint and discipline - and perhaps Elvis as well - this could have been so much better than it is.