Maestro

This film reaffirmed for me that nothing in today's Hollywood is a sure thing. Even with Scorsese and Spielberg producing and the highly successful Bradley Cooper directing, the result can still miss the mark. Despite Cooper's evident passion for Leonard Bernstein, the film ends up feeling self-indulgent, more for him than for the audience. While Bradley's performance and transformation are nearly genius, the standout moments are those where he conducts — scenes worthy of an IMAX screen. Unfortunately, the rest feels like unnecessary filler, leaving the viewer disinterested and disengaged. (2023-12-27)

Every director has the right to decide how to approach a biography. Bradley Cooper opted for what I would consider a completely inappropriate approach in the form of fragments from the life of a famous conductor, which have no cohesive effect, do not relate to each other much, and generally feel superficial. An uninformed viewer will take nothing away from the film, at most the information that Leonard Bernstein struggled his whole life with his sexuality. And yet they won't even get an answer as to whether or not he did so successfully. The acting performances are very good; however, I'm worried that Carey Mulligan has been put in a box that she always handles well, where she always aspires to an Oscar but has yet to win one because the competition always surpasses her. Maybe she'll find a way with Saltburn, or rather its director Emerald Fennell, who is trying to help Carey break free from those boxes. Bradley has a more diverse repertoire, but in the end, he is in the same position as Carey. With Maestro, you can maybe sense a bit too much how much he wants that Oscar. (2024-04-17)

The biggest problem with Maestro is that it has all the ingredients for success: we see precise and solid filmmaking and great, award-worthy performances, but it absolutely lacks soul. For me, that means I'm unable to form a connection to any of the characters, and there's a lack of emotional involvement. You finish watching it and then you can immediately go on to the next one, which to me is not the mark of a good film. So I totally understand the low rating. I'm not able to give more than 3 stars myself, and the third one is for Bradley Cooper's performance. (2024-02-11)

"I want an Oscar! .... I want my fucking Oscar!" Yes, the cinematography is great, the music is magical (but that's not Bradley Cooper's doing), the aging make-up effects are fantastic. But what good is that when at times I felt like I was at a show where the lead actor is trying so hard he doesn't even realize that the one that was supposed to be second best is overwhelmingly outplaying him. Yes, Carey Mulligan gave Bradley's big boxer of an actor a K.O. after a few minutes, because she, unlike him, came across as authentic, natural and didn't need any great prosthetics to do it. And I tried in vain the whole time to determine what it was actually supposed to be about. For it to be about a genius in the arms of the muses who was also a bit of a dick, it's too vague and indistinct, with characters just shuffling around, coming and going and nothing coming of it. And if it was supposed to be about the magical power of music, then maybe only in the cathedral scene, otherwise the reassurance of why Bernstein was such a great composer didn't really rub off on me the whole time. But maybe that's how Cooper intended it, according to the opening credits, that "a work of art doesn't answer questions: it provokes them", and I'm just wronging him on that. But sorry Bradley, sometimes I'm entitled to a bit of superficial viewer expectation... (2024-02-07)

Though it is beautifully filmed in formalistic terms and Bradley Cooper devotes himself to his acting performance, Maestro is a lifeless biopic. It’s as if there were no motifs in Leonard Bernstein’s life that would be sufficient for a dramatic and emotional telling of his story on film. Nevertheless, the film itself shows that there were such motifs, but it would have been necessary to work with them in a different way and build the screenplay on a foundation other than Bernstein’s homosexuality versus his marriage. The aspects of the complexity of his relationship with his wife are not tangible here. If not for a few dialogue scenes, we wouldn’t understand them at all, because we have no way or time to feel them. Produced by both Scorsese and Spielberg? Seriously? (2024-02-07)