Personally, I enjoyed it.
Granted, a '7.0' feels about right. That's where I'd score it myself.
It has some highs, some lows, some very well-executed moments. And it definitely feels like an event movie!
I suppose my three biggest beefs are:
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Too Gaga-centric. Lady Gaga is a sufficient actress, like a broadsword or machete is a sufficient cutting tool. Works fine in the jungle against bamboo and green vines, but when the task (or scene) at hand requires a scalpel beneath magnifying glass, nope. No delicateness, no finesse, no precision. One might speculate she'd get better with more practice, but given she already has 45 acting credits to her name since The Sopranos in 2001, perhaps she's peaked.
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Adam Driver just doesn't do it for me. I've seen him in so many things now, and want to love him, but there's something missing. Can't quite put my finger on it. The x-factor, the deftness, the...oh, I don't know...je ne sais quois. So he, paired with Gaga, just falls flat somehow. Kinda clunky in ways I can't quite explain, leaving me feeling clunky, too!
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The 'theatrics' of overdone accents, hair, make-up, prosthetic noses...it's just too hammy. Circusy is not the right word, but it's approaching that. Hard to get lost in a film when distracted by fat-suits, wigs, and such.
But the music is great, the story itself is interesting enough, and I learned many things I did not know.
So, all in all, yep, a 7.0.
But an 'A' for Effort!
