Bradley Cooper follows his Oscar-winning debut A Star Is Born with a biopic of a true music icon, Leonard Bernstein, in Maestro.
Eyebrows were raised when the trailer and poster dropped that had Carey Mulligan receive top billing. A classy move on Cooper’s part perhaps, yet one that makes sense within the context of the film.
It opens with an older Bernstein being interviewed at a piano, playing a melancholic piece of music. One seemingly inspired by his late wife Felicity. The film then jumps back in time to black and white to the moment Bernstein receives his big break conducting the New York Philharmonic and meeting Felicity at a party.
There is an instant attraction there but Leonard is a complicated person. One whose personality and professional life seems constantly divided. He sees himself as both conductor and composer. He feels the music intensely and that passion spills over into his private life where he “loves too much” and with just about anyone and everyone, regardless of gender.
Leonard’s story is told through the lens of the woman who stood by him through thick and thin. Sometimes to the detriment of her own life. Nowhere is this more evident than in a stunning shot where whilst bathed in a sliver of light, she stands in the wings dwarfed by the huge shadow cast by her husband.
As one of Bernstein’s proteges Lydia Tár once said, “Time is the thing”. Felicity really was Leonard’s human metronome. Trying to keep him (and them) on the straight and narrow throughout his busy career and the numerous upbeats and downbeats of their life together.
Cooper and Mulligan are both excellent in their roles and their chemistry together simply sings. However the only thing that is Chile about Mulligan is her coldness to Bernstein in the later years.
It is a project that has at one time or another, courted the interest of directors such as Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg. Both are not strangers to telling the stories of American legends. The rumour goes that Spielberg saw a rough cut of A Star Is Born and patted Cooper on the shoulder after the ‘Shallow’ sequence and told him “you’re directing Maestro”.
So can Cooper live up to the endorsement of these directing powerhouses, both of whom remain as executive producers? The truth is, yes and no.
It is clear that Cooper has continued to develop and improve his artistic eye. Showcased in moments such as a stunning overhead tracking shot from Bernstein’s apartment into Carnegie Hall, or a musical montage during an On The Town rehearsal that foreshadows the couple’s future. All crisply captured in stunning black and white by cinematographer Matthew Libatique.
Where the film falls down is in its emotional resonance. Where the film should soar and take the audience with them, instead it falls slightly flat. Like a musician hitting a bum note that throws off the entire orchestra.
In fact, it could be summed up perfectly by something that Bernstein’s wife Felicity says. “If Summer does not make you sing, then nothing can. If you cannot sing then you cannot play the music”.
The fault lies with the screenplay. On paper, it appears to hit all the right notes in terms of the major points of Bernstein and Montealegre Cohn, yet it never truly feels them. Almost like it is merely going through the motions. A shame as it undermines what is a true heartbreaking moment for the couple (and family), and yet appears as a cliched subplot from any other movie that has dealt with the subject matter.
Overall, it lacks the passion and heart that does appear sporadically. Such as the fight between the couple where she has reached her limit, comparing herself to someone willingly standing under a bird with a proclivity to shit everywhere. The anger is however undercut somewhat by the world’s most awkward and saddest Snoopy cameo.
In one telling moment, Felicity tells Leonard that he will never truly find happiness and greatness until he feels and plays with joy. A moment he does finally achieve in a one shot take of a concert in his later years. Maestro has moments of joy and greatness, it just fails to reach the crescendo deserving of the man, and the woman behind the great man.
Maestro had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and will be in select cinemas November 22 and on Netflix December 20
Rating: 
Director: Bradley Cooper
Stars: Carey Mulligan, Bradley Cooper, Maya Hawke
Runtime: 129 minutes
Country: USA
