Maestro

Think of a biopic of a famous person as like a complex cake - you can carefully dissect one slice of it to examine the contents, or you can bravely try to examine the whole lot to see what it's made of.

This biopic of American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein is like looking at only the surface of the cake through a slice of Swiss cheese - a lot of loosely connected vignettes with no depth. If you don't know much about the man, you would leave the theatre with no great insights about him.

The film jumps around in time and gives you snippets of the man's life and work. There are scenes about his bisexuality and penchant for men, his role as a conductor and composer, his drug addictions and his relationship with his daughter, but none of these are examined in any depth at all. His bipolar relationship with his wife and her later death from cancer are given the most screen time, but still feels unfulfilled and lacking in substance.

Bradley Cooper directs in a rather disjointed style. The first half is shot in black and white, then we change to colour for no good reason except maybe historical chronology - it doesn't work. Neither does the curiously tight aspect ratio, which again inexplicably opens up to full screen near the end. Some scenes are beautifully shot but too often Cooper relies on the slow zoom in and the very long takes, which don't always seem to match the scene. The film also could have ended perfectly with the penultimate scene, but inexplicably ruins the moment with one extra shot that completely fails to land.

Carey Mulligan is excellent as Bernstein's wife but Cooper as Bernstein doesn't quite work for me. He tends to overact, gives you little insight into the man himself, and the nasal voice starts to grate after a while - maybe it was inevitable with the prosthetic nose he was required to wear.

Even the grand concert scene in the cathedral, conducting his beloved Mahler, didn't quite generate the depth of feeling it could have - contrast this with the Tchaikovsky concert scene in the French-Russian film Le Concert, which takes emotion (actors and viewers) to a much higher level.

All in all this is not a bad movie, and to be fair it does engage the viewer a little more in the second half. But it tackles too many themes with a disturbing superficiality, giving very little substance to almost any. It could have been a lot better. No doubt however it will get lots of Oscar nominations, but then the Academy lost the plot years ago and succumbs to hype more than merit.

We don't know much about Leonard Bernstein. We didn't learn why he wanted to be a composer or how he got in the business. His relationship wasn't very clear either. He's bisexual, but that doesn't go anywhere. His wife isn't explained much either other than being a stage actress. We don't know much about his children. The timelines aren't clear when the movie takes place. It seems to start in the 50s other than the opening scene of him as an old man. I do like Bradley Cooper's performance, but not much comes from the character. We don't know what made him famous since he was already famous before his memorable score in On the Waterfront.

Obviously made for the Academy to truly honor Bradley Cooper remarkable transformation into the hoity toity world of Leonard Bernstein. Yes, we know he is going to be great in this role. But sometimes when you surround yourself with Oscar level material and talent, it could seem like it's just fishing for the Little Gold dude.

This is what it felt like. Though, simultaneously...he's just good.

Actor turned directors don't always work. Especially virtuosos that started clownish and end up in the serious zone. Cooper is that guy. Following in the footsteps of Clint Eastwood rather than, say Charles Laughton. It felt like a natural transition for Cooper who seemed to fine tune his energies towards more serious endeavors outside of things like "The Hangover" flicks.

"Silver Linings Playbook" was the start.

And who are his mentors in directing if it weren't the top tier directors.... David O' Russell, Paul Thomas Anderson, Spielberg, Scorsese or Clint Eastwood himself.

What this film struggles with, is the interest level. A lot will go over modern audiences head. Simply because we only know him as the guy who did the music to "West Side Story" And even THAT is stretching it. Cooper doesn't focus his energy on that rather this "love" story of a woman who fell for a gay guy. This would've been interesting 30 years ago. Now, not as intriguing.

Carey Mulligan is the best thing in this movie. At times, she is very much a Katherine Hepburn North Atlantic phony. But when some of the veil of her pain rises to the surface, she drops the pleasantries and tells it like it is.

There is a moment during a Thanksgiving party where we see some of the best acting I've seen between two people. Dialogue is somewhat on the nose, but boy do they both play it to the hilt. It's phenomenal, the ability to get to a screaming match with the words actually meaning something. That is an accomplishment.

Things get slow when the self-indulgent conducting moment creeps in. Yes, we know Brad studied a long time to get Bernstein's mannerisms. Do we really have to see all of it?

Other things that bothered me... it still feels like a very cold movie. Aside from Mulligan, his entire family seems to have been plugged in as trope characters to get you more understanding of the guy. They don't add much. Perhaps that was attempting to be subtle. It felt like subterfuge.

This was Oscar bait in absolute.

A struggling musician agonized by his own genius, talents, and creativity and trapped in loveless marriage filled with guilt. Both look the other way while one has an affair and realize the importance of one's own partner too late. Right now, at the top of my head I can think of 'Fosse/Verdon', 'A Star Is Born', 'George & Tammy', 'Walk the Line', 'Dreamgirls', 'Daisy Jones & The Six', and etc. (Wow, that's a lot.) Biographical genre is especially tricky because it has to excel the life of actual historical figures. 'Maestro' could have been so much better if it delved into the introspective and artistic side of Bernstein deeper or provided a different and fresh point of view on his life rather than reciting his personal life. His autobiography or research would be more fun and interesting than this explanatory movie.

There were a few futile attempts to make the movie look more artistic, abstract, and ambiguous. They failed because they serve no purpose but to look pretentious. White and black, camera movement, the use of light and shadows, and musical aspects. They are all good attempts, but for what? By doing so, is the story getting stronger? Do they enhance what viewers feel? Waste of time and films.

Bradley Cooper's performance is disappointing. He never acts; he imitates. When he's on the screen, we know clearly that he's acting. It's hard to be absorbed and immersed into the screen because he always pushes the audience away with his trying too hard. I get that he wants to emulate Bernstein's twangy voice. However, emotions and messages he delivers are more important than his likeness of Bernstein's tone, accent, sound, or mannerism. He focuses on what's outside of Bernstein rather than what would be inside of him. There is a 10 minute sequence of Cooper conducting, and it's screaming 'Look how good I am!!!'. It's one of the highest points for emotions to burst out for the audience, and I started to laugh.

The acting is superb and particularly Carey Mulligan who is astonishing, as usual, and Bradley Cooper's transformation is incredible. The look and feel throughout is very polished. But, and this isn't a minor quibble -- I found it really hard to understand the dialogue! Characters speak so quickly, in a mumble, that I actually considered putting on subtitles. Anyway, it wouldn't have made a difference, I thought the movie was so empty and plotless and uninteresting. There was really no tension in the wife's dealing with her husband's bisexuality, no real exploration or understanding of Bernstein's conflicts, and no delving into his achievements or their context, so there wasn't much left!