Movie Review: Maestro
Maestro is Bradley Cooper’s second directorial effort following his 2018 Oscar-winning hit A Star is Born. Cooper choosing to modernize a classic story like A Star is Born was a bold choice because of how many movies we have seen with that story and how many times the movie itself had been made. But Cooper knocked it out of the park. It made a bunch of money at the box office, was critically acclaimed, and was nominated for several awards. It would be safe to assume that most people were excited and intrigued to see what Cooper’s next film would be.
While A Star is Born was bold for a debut film, I would contend that Maestro is even more ambitious as a sophomore film. This is a sprawling look at the great composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein (played by Cooper) and his wife Felicia Montealegre (Carrie Mulligan) from Bernstein’s conducting debut at Carnegie Hall in 1943 at the age of 25 and going until he is into his 70s. Cooper tackling such an important figure of the 20th century for such an extended length of time would be a big task for an experienced director, but for someone with only one feature film under their belt, it’s even bigger.
Cooper might have only directed two films, but Maestro confirms that he has the skills of a seasoned veteran. There is a passion in his directing that lights a spark in you. You feel the love, care, and dedication Cooper put into the film. He knows exactly what shot he wants, what performance he wants, and what messages he wants to convey in his films. He has complete control of every aspect on screen and the film looks spectacular on every technical level.
But as the credits rolled on Maestro, I felt little emotion to the events that transpired, and that’s where I feel this project got away from Cooper. Trying to tell the story of a man spanning nearly fifty years is a long time and tough to convey, especially in a two-hour runtime. Leonard was a complicated man. On the surface, he looked like he had it all; a beautiful wife, wonderful kids, a perfect career, and was thought of as a genius by many. But behind the curtains, everything was more complicated. There were affairs, neglectful parenting, and drug abuse during these times. But everything that takes place in the film happens in a fleeting moment nothing completely hits on an emotional level. Time got the best of Cooper here. We analyze and see so much of Leonard’s life, but never fully know him or what he or anyone around him was going through. That might have been what Cooper was going for, saying nobody, not even Leonard’s wife, knew who he was. But the problem is that we also don’t get to know Felicia, whose marriage to Leonard is the core of the movie, so it’s tough to attach to anyone in the film. I wish Cooper made Maestro’s timeline like Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator or Michael Mann’s Ali where they only focused on a specific time in that person’s life to tell the story of who they are. Fifty years of life requires more time, frankly.
The performances by Cooper and Mulligan are superb. Many will point to Cooper’s performance and say a lot of the credit should go to the hair and makeup team for making him look almost exactly like Leonard. But that would be a disservice to Cooper, who gives a lively performance of the fast-talking musical genius. Cooper’s charisma and energy fill the screen with every scene and much like the people surrounding Leonard, you can’t take your eyes off him. Mulligan is the emotional center of the film as Felicia, a woman who stands by her husband and will always love him despite all his flaws and misdoings. She has the most tragic storyline throughout the film, but as mentioned above, she isn’t developed enough for the events of her life to pull at the heartstrings hard enough.
Cooper’s direction in Maestro is impressive and there is no denying that he is a gifted filmmaker and one of the best actors working today. This is a project that he has been working on for years and you feel every ounce of blood, sweat, and passion he put into this. There are some truly breathtaking shots and sequences in the film (the cathedral scene is a jaw-dropping feat of direction and acting), and he conjures up some sensational performances. Cooper is a real-deal filmmaker and I cannot wait to see what he does next.
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