Movie Review: ‘Maestro’

‘Maestro,’ Bradley Cooper’s second effort as a director, is an expansive if perplexing look at an iconic musical figure and his turbulent private life.

Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein (Director/Writer/Producer) in 'Maestro.'

In theaters on November 22nd and premiering on Netflix on December 20th is ‘Maestro,’ starring Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Sarah Silverman, Maya Hawke, and Matt Bomer.

Initial Thoughts

There is no way that a single movie could encompass the musical influence and accomplishments of Leonard Bernstein, one of the 20th century’s most important composers and conductors. And director-star Bradley Cooper doesn’t try, focusing instead on Bernstein’s loving if complicated relationship with his wife Felicia (Carey Mulligan) and the toll his many dalliances with men took on it. But while their performances are enjoyable and there are moments of greatness throughout, ‘Maestro’ bounces from one era to the next without giving us time to truly savor Bernstein’s story.

Story and Direction

Carey Mulligan as Felicia Montealegre and Bradley Cooper (Director/Writer) as Leonard Bernstein in 'Maestro.'

After a brief opening showing Leonard Bernstein being interviewed at home in his later years, ‘Maestro’ begins in earnest in 1943. Bernstein is living above Carnegie Hall with his lover, David Oppenheim (Matt Bomer), and achieves his first success when he is suddenly called upon to conduct the New York Philharmonic. A short while later he meets Costa Rican actress Felicia Montealegre (Mulligan), and the two begin a whirlwind courtship that results in marriage and three children – even as Bernstein continues to sleep with men throughout the years and Felicia pragmatically tolerates it.

The tension inherent in the Bernsteins’ marriage -- between their seemingly genuine affection for each other and the toll taken by Leonard’s closeted life and many affairs – is at the core of ‘Maestro’ as it rolls in sometimes disorienting fashion through the decades. In his second feature behind the camera (as well as in front of it) following ‘A Star is Born,’ Bradley Cooper displays confidence in his choices, even if they’re not always the right ones.

The opening scenes of ‘Maestro,’ set primarily in the 1940s, are filmed in a 1:33:1 ratio and shot in black and white, befitting the way most filmed entertainment was viewed at the time. As the film progresses through the ensuing decades, color comes into the picture and the frame expands to modern widescreen dimensions. It’s a kind of visual shorthand, but it doesn’t help us get involved or even understand the rush of events onscreen.

That may be the biggest problem with ‘Maestro’: the story could be too big for a movie that runs slightly over two hours. Cooper may know every detail of Bernstein’s life (as evidenced by his performance), but the rest of us have to play catch-up. And in many cases, the things the composer was best known for – ‘West Side Story’ in particular – are left almost completely offscreen or mentioned in passing, with much more time spent on Bernstein’s personal travails.

Mulligan and Cooper keep us interested, however, especially during a lot of poorly paced or fragmentary scenes in the film’s first half, and the director finally seems to find the magic formula in the third act. That’s when Felicia and Leonard’s marriage is nearly destroyed for good by his personal problems, only for him to redeem himself with his truly thrilling, transcendent conducting of Mahler’s 2nd Symphony at Ely Cathedral – which Cooper films and performs in one astounding 6 ½ minute take of sheer musical joy. Things take a tragic turn after that, enough to make the homestretch of ‘Maestro’ moving even if the rest of the film isn’t nearly as satisfying.

Lenny and Felicia

Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein (Director/Writer/Producer) and Carey Mulligan as Felicia Montealegre in 'Maestro.'

Even with its issues, ‘Maestro’ is anchored by the two performances at the center of the film: Carey Mulligan as Felicia and Bradley Cooper as Leonard. While he’s terrific, Cooper’s work in a way is the showier, more “look at me, I’m acting” performance: from the subtle prosthetics on his face (more on that later) to his uncanny vocalizations, Cooper is utilizing some surface tricks, even as he is talented enough to inhabit the character of Leonard Bernstein without them.

Mulligan is operating on a different, higher plane. While she too recreates Felicia’s voice, her work comes from a more interior place, and as a result is the more emotionally affecting and deeply felt performance (we suspect that Cooper knows this as well, which is why Felicia is in many ways the heart and soul of the story). There is no doubt that the two have tremendous chemistry, which shines through brightly as Lenny and Felicia still manage to share extended moments of fun and love even as they ride the turbulent waters of their marriage.

Production design and music

Soloists Isabel Leonard and Rosa Feola with Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein (Director/Writer/Producer) in 'Maestro.'

Before ‘Maestro’ came out, there was controversy over the use of prosthetic makeup to give Bradley Cooper the same large nose as Leonard Bernstein – which led to accusations of Cooper wearing an antisemitic prosthetic for the role and questions of why he didn’t hire a Jewish actor to begin with. The latter is silly: actors inhabit many roles with which they have little in common. That’s why they’re actors. As for the makeup by Kazo Hiro, it’s subtle and tasteful, and pictures comparing Cooper to the real Bernstein will attest to its accuracy.

That’s a short way of saying that ‘Maestro’ and its director pay loving, careful attention to detail through the film. Cooper, costume designer Mark Bridges, production designer Kevin Thompson, and many others do a superb job of carrying this story through decades of changes in fashion, interior design, and more, and that immersive visual quality of ‘Maestro’ is one of its strongest assets.

The same goes for the music. While we don’t get to hear enough of it, what we do hear of Bernstein’s music is recorded, mixed, and produced in such a way to bring it grand, powerfully emotional life. There is no better example of this than the scene in which he conducts Mahler’s ‘Resurrection’ Symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra at England’s Ely Cathedral, in which the viewer feels the force of the music in a way that perhaps Bernstein himself felt it that night.

Can ‘Maestro’ Bring Home Oscar Gold?

‘Maestro’ is going to solidly be in the Oscar mix this year. Nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Production Design, Best Sound, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling are all pretty much in the bag for this one, with a win fairly certain in that latter category and perhaps Best Sound (ironically, ‘Maestro’ cannot be nominated for its music since it’s all pre-existing).

The Academy loves portrayals of real people, and Bradley Cooper really does an incredible job of transforming himself into Bernstein, so there’s a good chance he can take home the Best Actor trophy (which will also ease the sting of being skipped over for Best Director). And perhaps in any other year, Carey Mulligan would walk away with Best Actress for her luminous performance as Felicia. But this isn’t any other year: she faces tough competition from the likes of Emma Stone (‘Poor Things’), Lily Gladstone (‘Killers of the Flower Moon’) and Sandra Huller (‘Anatomy of a Fall’).

Final Thoughts

There seems to be an abundance of biopics out there at the moment, and they all seem to offer up the same positives and negatives: a great, even masterful central performance or two and wonderful style in a story that can be hard to follow or get fully immersed in.

‘Maestro,’ thanks to the extraordinary work of Carey Mulligan in particular and – just slightly less so – Bradley Cooper, does manage to involve us in their epic if troubled love story, and does feature moments in which Bernstein’s rapturous relationship with music comes soaring through. But its hopscotch approach to the man’s life and times keeps us at a distance until the film’s third act, which keeps ‘Maestro’ from achieving the greatness of the iconic figure at its heart.

‘Maestro’ receives 7 out of 10 stars.

Maestro

R2 hr 9 minNov 22nd, 2023

Showtimes & Tickets

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What is the plot of 'Maestro'?

This fearless love story chronicles the complicated lifelong relationship between music legend Leonard Bernstein (Bradley Cooper) and Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein (Carey Mulligan).