Maestro – Review
129 Minutes, Rated R
Written by Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer
Directed by Bradley Cooper
**NOTE: this post may be updated with audio once we actually have the chance to talk about it. Until then, you can read Mark’s review below. Remember, though, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**
Synopsis:
This love story chronicles the lifelong relationship of conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein and actress Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein.
Bradley Cooper is back behind the camera, directing the story of legendary composer/conductor/icon Leonard Bernstein.
I think Cooper has something for musical movies, after making his directorial debut with A Star is Born.
Like A Star is Born, Cooper is directing himself in front of the camera, this time with the talented Carey Mulligan at his side instead of Lady Gaga.
The film covers Bernstein’s life from his unlikely debut at Carnegie Hall as a fill-in conductor (with no rehearsal!) through an interview late in his life. This interview is the frame on which the film hangs, with the body of the film composed of flashbacks and memories.
Cooper presents the story in a somewhat bizarre mix of color and black-and-white that, on a single viewing, I could not force into a constant state of which was for what, as the film is a constant string of overlapping time that didn’t seem (again, on a single viewing) to fit a particular mold.
This didn’t detract from the viewing experience, but I can’t honestly say that it enhanced the film for me in any way, either.
The aspect ratio is also, at least in parts, a solid 4:3 vs widescreen, and honestly, once I realized I was watching that aspect ratio, I didn’t bother paying attention to it again.
I do feel, though, like there was some widescreen in there, perhaps during the dance number…?
The performances are solid, with Cooper bringing a manic energy to the role that seems to jive with my recollections of Bernstein I’ve seen, whether it was his enthusiastic conducting style or his machine-gun verbal patter. I must admit that, for all the hullabaloo that went out initially about the prosthetic nose and “jew-face” accusations, I found that I forgot it was Cooper under there, and think that, had he played the role “unaltered,” it would have taken me out of the film. Instead, I got to enjoy the physicality of his performance, his nearly unceasing motion driving the film forward.
Carey Mulligan plays his wife, Felicia, and as enjoyable as Cooper is as Leonard, she absolutely steals the film from him, grounding both him and the film in the reality of a woman, immensely talented in her own right, who bonds with him in a way that propels him forward even more than he might otherwise have on talent alone. She accepts his professional ambition, encourages it, all while being a wife and mother who deals with his secret-not-secret bisexuality and the lovers he takes throughout.
She is spectacular.
It is clear that she is the true love of his life, however, though he cannot constrain his extramarital endeavors. Whether one accepts his assertion that he simply “loves people” and so follows his heart (and his penis) wherever it leads him or not, Cooper never settles into a portrayal of simply a gay man who sleeps around willy-nilly; he accepts the idea that Bernstein embodied love in all its forms and goes with it.
Surprising me in a supporting role is Maya Hawke as their eldest daughter, who sees both sides of their relationship while trying to deal with her own unique place in it.
The real star of the film is the music, of course. From sweeping symphonies to Broadway showtunes, the score soars and flows and carries us along through Leonard’s life, with all its ups and downs.
Maestro will have a limited theatrical run beginning November 22, and will hit Netflix on December 20.
Maestro stars Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Matt Bomer, Maya Hawke, and Sarah Silverman.
And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.
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