Gaga: Five Foot Two

"Five Foot Two" offers an intimate look at Gaga behind the scenes and beyond the fame.

Its very existence is owed to Gaga's expressiveness, even as it documents a period of time a career-minded singer might have kept hidden.

Anyone who doesn't have a Little Monster's encyclopedic knowledge might feel a little emotionally lost.

While it's possible that the director and cinematographer Chris Moukarbel is good at withholding unflattering material, Gaga comes off well, and credibly so: intelligent, an accomplished craftswoman, a well-mannered collaborator and boss.

One can imagine woe would betide anyone who might neglect, say, to get the lining on a sequined jacket fixed the instant she asks for it, as happens just before she does the halftime show at the Super Bowl.

She's never without a strong emotion, which must get exhausting, even as it makes her a fascinating subject.

"Gaga: Five Foot Two"... does something else too: It manages to make a wealthy A-lister slash pop star eerily relatable.

Far from seeming like a strategic element created to define Lady Gaga's reinvention, the documentary instead feels like a natural outgrowth of it.

The film's message is empowering but its subtext is more fascinating, as Gaga puts her take-charge philosophy to use.

An electrifying, moving, intimate and revealing close look at Gaga's personal life, creative process and love for her fans. [Full review in Spanish]

Whether you like Lady Gaga or not, you will at least finish "Five Foot Two" with a newfound respect.

The camera loves Gaga's dramatic eyebrows and large eyes staring over her long nose and Streisand-ish mouth, but Five Foot Two captures her at a down time in her life, in several senses of that term.