Bradley Cooper And Carey Mulligans Chemistry Is PitchPerfect In ‘Maestro: Movie Review
The Maestro, starring Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan, received 3.5 stars (out of 4) from Us Weekly film critic Marie Reinstein.
When the first trailer for Maestro was released in August, many headlines focused on Bradley Cooper's famous prosthetic nose. Most important and surprising conclusion : Carey Mulligan has the most credits. Isn't this a biography of the extraordinary musician Leonard Bernstein?! How is Cooper second?! In the film called Maestro !
Now that The Maestro has premiered — first in Venice last month, then at the New York Film Festival on October 2 — the reason is clear.
Cooper, who directed and wrote the screenplay, eschews the traditional womb-to-grave narrative in favor of a beautiful love story that spans decades. Whether Bernstein remains a force in American culture is a dangerous gamble that, in theory, should not be taken.
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Take another step. After the success of 2018's A Star Is Born remake, Cooper may be considering a more ambitious project. But it fails to convey all the crescendos of the romance between Bernstein and Mulligan's Felicia Montelaghu. Their love is a symphony in itself.
For the uninitiated, Bernstein is a Massachusetts-born Jewish conductor, composer, pianist, and teacher, perhaps best known for writing the iconic music for West Side Story . In the 1940s, he was feverishly promoted when the 25-year-old genius was asked to take the prestigious position of conductor of the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall. (Too bad the child actor didn't get the chance to play young Lenny.)
Cooper then quickly works his way through the black and white cinematography. Bernstein and Montelogre, a charming Chilean expat and actor, meet at a party at a smokehouse in New York and are immediately impressed by each other's intelligence and creativity. They lie down and share secrets. I fell in love with it as the musical score traveled through the city . They will soon be married and their future looks infinitely bright.
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This first part of the relationship is an obsession with gossip, slander (“Stevie Sondheim”) and dreams. The frenzied staging sometimes seems a little pretentious and inaccessible to an audience unfamiliar with the theatrical landscape of the mid-20th century. It's only when Cooper picks up the pace and makes the film a Technicolor maestro that it becomes a suffocating melodrama with overtones of violence and fantasy.
That means no behind-the-scenes West Side Story , no awards or triumphs. Instead, the maestro delves into the couple's complex dynamics. Monteloge, a housewife and single mother, moved to her Connecticut home and stopped monitoring her husband's affairs with other men. ( Matt Bomer played one of his dirty games.)
Despite its small size, the audience at the New York Film Festival press conference gasped when Monteallegre brutally crushed Bernstein. On the contrary, her husband extols the Joy of Living in every word and every deed. In the 1970s, he was addicted to cocaine. In the 1980s, despite his wrinkled skin and shaggy white hair, he performed in nightclubs like a man half his age.
Given Cooper and Mulligan's stellar careers — they've earned six Oscar nominations — it seems silly to say they're a vision. But hey, it’s a revelation! Mulligan takes complete control of a strong-willed character who refuses to be a supporting player. Cooper's depiction never seems pretentious. He doesn't hold back and gains courage as the film progresses. For the record, the nose is the opposite of rot.
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However, the maestro's real star is his music. As if there is no doubt that Bernstein's haunting compositions stand the test of time, they serve as the film's soundtrack, filling every emotional beat. In 1968, a six-minute reproduction of Mahler's Second Symphony blew the roof off New York's Lincoln Center, and soon every movie theater had a decent sound system. Just wow.
Although Cooper never revealed the inner workings of Bernstein's brilliant and extraordinary mind, we do know who remained in his heart.
Maestro , the flagship selection of the New York Film Festival, is released in theaters on November 22 and will be released on Netflix on December 20.
