Early Friday morning, Central European Time, Bradley Cooper’s eagerly anticipated remake of A Star Is Born made its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival—capping off nearly six months of breathless rumors and growing buzz, which turned Friday’s 8:30 A.M. press screening into one of the first can’t-miss events of this young season. The atmosphere going into that first screening was electric, though not nearly as electric as the film’s glitzy red carpet premiere later Friday evening.

Of course, lightning rarely strikes twice—and one couldn’t deny that the room lost some its charge as the two-hour-and-15 minute-romance wore on that night. By the time Lady Gaga, as country up-and-comer Ally, reached her closing power ballad, the film drew polite if less than ecstatic applause, and everyone quickly filed out to talk about what they just saw.

The main topic of conversation? A certain pop megastar. It doesn’t seem right to call one of the most famous women in the world a “revelation,” so let’s just say that Cooper very cannily constructs his directorial debut to put a new side of his lead actress on display. Gaga spends much of the film free of the makeup and adornments that have long been foundational to her public image, and the Venice crowd agreed that the gambit pays off. Watching the film almost feels like being introduced to Gaga for the first time.

That said, Cooper also isn’t afraid to play with his star’s diva persona. He has fun twisting and turning it, as in the scene that captures the whirlwind first encounter between his alcoholic country star, Jackson Maine, and her golden-voiced ingénue. They meet in a drag bar, complete with a sequined set of queens who act as a Greek chorus. The scene ends with Cooper sensually removing Gaga’s false eyelashes to reveal the Stefani underneath—echoing how the director apparently removed Gaga’s makeup himself during her screen test for the role—but it also prominently features a pair of fake boobs, as well as Drag Race’s Shangela Laquifa Wadley. The filmmaker-star knows where his bread is buttered.

He also knows how to work a room. Decked out in an azure blue tuxedo, Cooper put in a warmly received appearance at a poolside Hollywood Foreign Press Association cocktail less than an hour before his red carpet premiere. Oscar-winning directors, international journalists, and studio bigwigs mingled over prosecco and Aperol spritzes at the stunning Hotel Excelsior, and the newly minted auteur was happy to shake hands and take pictures with them all. It was a necessary social call, because for all the accolades his film and lead actress so richly deserve, A Star Is Born is not quite a front-runner for best picture—not at this point, anyway.

Now that the denizens of Venice have had a day to mill around and talk about the film, a central refrain has emerged: this fourth remake of A Star Is Born feels a bit like déjà vu. Cooper and crew do what they can and do it well, but the fact remains that this tale is deeply embedded in Hollywood’s DNA; you can see its traces in awards winners like The Artist and La La Land, and the film may not do quite enough to set it apart from the pack. Indeed, the movie’s more coolly received last act hews to an unchanging setlist; by then, many in the audience knew all the lyrics, and could easily sing along.

So now the conventional wisdom begins to set in. Cooper and Gaga seem shoo-ins for acting nominations, and the best original song race has all but wrapped up. But picture? Director? Entirely unclear. Which might explain why Cooper made a point to press the flesh with the H.F.P.A. in Venice. The film was still an hour away from its fateful premiere, but the campaign had already begun.