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Maybe Bradley Cooper really missed his calling as a musician.
It's clear that Cooper is good at many things, including writing, producing and acting – which he did for his 2019 Best Picture Oscar nominee “A Star Is Born” and again in the musical drama “Maestro” (★★★ released) has done by four; rated R; stream on Netflix on Wednesday). In “Star,” he proved he could carry a tune as a fictional country singer alongside Lady Gaga, and now Cooper wields the baton like an icon in his latest performance as Leonard Bernstein.
“Maestro” is a portrait of the artist as a conflicted man: the film follows the long relationship between Bernstein and his wife, actress Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan), and how their love and marriage are disrupted by the legendary composer/conductor's homosexual affairs the test was hubris and insecurities. It's a solid biopic that struggles to find its focus and feels somewhat incomplete, although it's elevated by a strong performance from Mulligan and a sensational, Oscar-ready turn from Cooper.
The film begins in retro black and white and begins with an important event in Bernstein's musical life. In 1943, the 25-year-old assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic was called to give his star performance at Carnegie Hall. As his career progresses, the excited Lenny meets Felicia at a party and immediately bond as they share backstories and artistic interests.
They fall in love and Felicia becomes his biggest fan, arguing that he should compose more. “Why would you ever give that up?” she asks, as three sailors in front of them dance in a dream fantasy to Bernstein’s tunes from “On the Town.” “It’s not serious music,” he says. They eventually married and started a family in the early 1950s. He becomes known for works such as “West Side Story” with Jerome Robbins (Michael Urie), but Bernstein's sister Shirley (Sarah Silverman) warns Felicia: “There is a price to pay for being in my brother's orbit.”
'Maestro': Bradley Cooper surprises at his own film premiere amid an actors' strike
This pays off as the film becomes more colorful, their lives move into the 1960s and 70s and Bernstein doesn't do a good job of hiding his same-sex romances. Earlier in his career, before Felicia, he had a relationship with clarinetist David Oppenheim (Matt Bomer), but when Bernstein's attention turns to young new lover Tommy Cothran (Gideon Glick) and his daughter Jamie (Maya Hawke), he asks him about rumors about her father's affairs, the dissonance grows louder as cracks form in the marriage.
“Maestro” is structured like a symphony, with different phases of her life working together to create an overall picture that explores Bernstein’s ego and mindset through professional success and personal conflict. Nevertheless, many of these life moments are often superficial. Meanwhile, certain interesting topics remain largely unexplored, like Bernstein's interactions with Robbins and Aaron Copland (Brian Klugman), or the fact that a mentor suggested he change his name to sound less Jewish so that he could be “the first great one.” “American conductor”.
But Cooper, the actor, smoothes out these inconsistencies. He does an excellent job of combining the youthful exuberance of early Bernstein with Mulligan's equally attractive Felicia. But it's only later – with the help of Oscar-winning prosthetics master Kazu Hiro (and a somewhat controversial nose) – that Cooper's transformation into amber really begins. Most impressive is a six-minute recreation of a 1973 Gustav performance of Mahler's “Resurrection Symphony,” as Cooper becomes Bernstein, sweaty hair flowing and baton waving. (Instead of using an original score, Cooper deftly draws on Bernstein's own works, including “West Side,” “Mass” and “Candide,” and sometimes even uses silence as a storytelling device.)
“Maestro” offers a kind of counterpoint to last year’s “Tár”. While Cate Blanchett's look at a fictional conductor offers a more insightful look at the complicated aspects of artistry, Cooper's work manages to bring an American legend to life while examining his humanity.
And if Cooper wants to explore a career as a drummer or tuba player next, reserve a ticket for us.
“We just had to do it” Bradley Cooper defends the use of prosthetic makeup in the role of “Maestro”.