THE WIFE STEALS THE SHOW: My Quick Review of Bradley Cooper's MAESTRO

If someone were to ask me to define what kind of film would fall under the definition of "Oscar bait", I think that my answer would vary slightly from certain points over the years.

There was a time when big sweeping epics seemed to be the "piece de resistance": Out of Africa, The Last Emperor, The English Patient, Titanic...but nowadays, there is a lot of emphasis on the "biopic".

Every year...we get a few films where that get the whole "this person disappears into the role" or "they capture the spirit or voice or mannerisms of whom they are playing" mumbo jumbo. 

It can be less of an issue when the person someone is playing may not be as known a figure these days for people to compare...and I suppose you could argue Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre both fall into this category.

As a musical theatre fan, I do know quite a bit about Leonard Bernstein thanks to his work on legendary musicals such as On the Town, Wonderful Town, Candide, and West Side Story...not to mention the fact that he is indelibly linked to being Music Director the of New York Philharmonic from 1958-1969.

As a figure, Bernstein has had his high moments and his low moments...to put it mildly. For every high (his immense support of civil rights and the Black Panther Movement) we also get the lows (his more predatory actions towards young men later in life)...but with a life like he had, it makes total sense that he would get a biopic. 

The final result is that Maestro is a pretty pedestrian biopic which just so happens to be handsomely made...if not flirting with a hint of pretentiousness. If the film offers anything beyond being incredibly handsome, it is that we get to see Carey Mulligan as Felicia Montealegre. 

A lot has been said how this has been a long gestating passion project for Bradley Cooper, who has had a fascination with conducting since childhood...and while you do see his passion in this film, I was left more in awe of Mulligan.

This isn't a surprise considering Mulligan typically hits it out of the park every time from An Education to Never Let Me Go to Shame to Wildlife to Promising Young Woman...and I think she does an absolutely lovely job here. While the fact that Montealegre was half-Costa Rican and raised in Chile, that does raise some eyebrows with Mulligan's casting, but she does seem to do very well at nailing the unique accent and gives the role a rich emotional life.

Cooper is in a prime position to potentially win Best Actor this year...but I am not entirely sure he would be my pick in the end. I am more inclined to support a win for Cillian Murphy. 

I am not really offering much insightful here otherwise. This might also be the quickest review I have ever written, but I found very little passion for the film otherwise.

I do see the great potential in Bradley Cooper as a filmmaker after this and A Star is Born (which I was less enamored with than most), but I hope he is able to have material with far more heart and soul rather than only fleeting moments of it.

I would've loved to see more from the music side and the passion from there...but I guess that is just a personal preference. It was good that they didn't entirely shy away from the sexual orientation conflicts, but it still feels like the film suffered from not finding the right ingredients for the recipe.

MY RATING FOR MAESTRO IS:

6/10