Without spoiling anything, how was Lady Gaga's performance? I'm not sure when I will have time to see the movie, might just wait till it's available on apple tv and buy it there.
Lady Gaga plays herself. Which is what she does in every project. And it's generally the right decision when you are dealing with a "super star musician" in an acting role.
The "gold standard" IMHO in a situation like this was The Bodyguard. Whitney Houston was deficient as an actress. But the film optmized the complexity of the situation. She played herself, or a version of herself. The entire film revolved around her as the center of attention, where musicians tend to thrive best, and the lack of chemistry/awkwardness/momentum without context between Costner and Houston fits the storyline and character development. What is generally not talked about in public is that Mick Jackson was able to restrain Costner's gigantic ego to be more subdued by telling him constantly that "Steve McQueen wouldn't do it like that" This let Houston take center stage, where she had the best fighting chance to deliver.
Look at Houston in the early 90s with the National Anthem. She had the abilty to be completely electrifying. Completely take hold of entire stadium. But again, it only works if she is the center of attention.
This role is just too complex for Gaga. IMHO she's getting accolades because most, in the "pundit" world, don't feel safe in their own monetized space to say otherwise. The industry's "Pink Mafia" is real and they are totally ruthless. She needs a film where she's the complete center attention. She needs storylines and characters that optimize her limited acting range. It's like professional sports where you get a role player who explodes and makes a huge difference in a very niche role and the "system" and team synergy is optimized to exploit that.
I think Todd Phillips made some good decisions here, to not centralize Gaga, because that doesn't really play to her range and strengths. I think some critics will say more Gaga will automatically equal better. I'd surmise if you are left wanting a little bit more, then Phillips handled it pretty well. He didn't risk oversaturating her when the story is really about Arthur Fleck.
Personally, I don't find Gaga as anything impressive at all as an actress. She's "replacement level", meaning she's competent enough to get you to a baseline most of the time. However, one thing she did do for this film, unintentionally, is the subset of the media juggernaut that wants to denounce this film for reasons not having anything to do with the actual storyline ( just that it's accused of promoting a sympathetic look at heterosexual white males ignored by society overall) also have to fear the "Pink Mafia" if they rail this movie too hard themselves. It's cooked agenda hitting cooked agenda on a pure collision course. Personally, I find it kind of hilarious, that part of it. Gaga is in the category of performers right now that exist in what I call the Vicellous Reon Shannon Zone. VRS was a young actor handpicked by Denzel Washington to be his on screen muse in The Hurricane, when Denzel was desperately hunting down an Oscar for anything. VRS got endless accolades. It wasn't until a bit later when finally a "market correction" happened when it was evident the guy was a substandard actor. But you would have had to criticize him at your peril in the late 90s if you were making a living in terms of reviewing films. Oddly, the same sort of effect happened with Chris O'Donnell in Scent Of A Woman in the mid 90s. He got lots of gushing press going toe to toe with Al Pacino who won an Oscar. Then finally everyone had to come to terms that COD's talent baseline is really being in an NCIS hokey TV show.
I don't have a problem with Gaga making the most of the opportunities in front of her. One could argue she helped to create them, she put in lots of money, blood, time and sweat for the overall LGBT community, and she should believe, and it's only fair, that she gets some "return in that investment" from the industry's "Pink Mafia"
My assessment? Phillips did the best he could with what he had. He bought himself "cost certainty" with the singing/musical sections with Gaga, then limited her out to not overwhelm the reality of the situation, that the film really has to be about Fleck himself.