‘Maestro’ review round-up: Bradley Cooper ‘exhausts his soul’ and Carey Mulligan gives ‘career-best performance’
On November 22, 2023, Netflix brings the love story of Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre to the big screen in “Maestro,” starring Oscar nominees Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan. Cooper proves to be a formidable triple-threat after co-writing and directing the film to rave reviews and a Cultural Icon and Creator Award at this year’s Gothams.
The complicated romance between the legendary composer and the actress is an across-the-board contender in Gold Derby’s Oscar odds, with Rotten Tomatoes rating it 81% fresh. The consensus from critics reads, “Led by a pair of powerful performances, ‘Maestro’ serves as a stirring overview of a tremendous talent’s life and legacy.” Read our full review round-up below.
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Jo-Ann Titmarsh of London Evening Standard writes, “Like Bernstein’s music, this movie won’t appeal to everybody, but it is an accomplished and moving biopic of two fascinating people, and a glimpse behind the public face of a truly great artist.” She adds, “As the marriage begins to flounder, Mulligan comes into her own to give a career-best performance as the put-upon wife whose own trajectory faltered after her marriage to the maestro. The portrayal of the couple’s break-up and reconciliation, as well as Felicia’s illness, are extremely moving.”
David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter praises the film, stating, “It’s intended as no slight to Cooper’s ‘A Star is Born’ remake, his impressive first turn in the director’s chair, to say his follow-up is a considerable leap in terms of accomplishment. Coincidentally, ‘Maestro’ also marks the second film in a year to focus on a celebrated classical music conductor with a vigorous presence both on and off the podium, a messy personal life and a passion for Mahler. It makes for an unofficial companion piece to Tár, whose fictional protagonist, Lydia Tár, was a Bernstein protégée.” Adding, “Mulligan has never been better. That explosive argument is a stunning scene, one of the movie’s high points, given a surreal edge by the tops of the Thanksgiving Day parade floats filing by outside the living room windows of their upper-floor apartment at the Dakota.”
Josh Parham of Next Best Picture notes, “Cooper hasn’t escaped all of the limitations of the subgenre, but at least this shows his passion for storytelling can still be arresting no matter where he stands by the camera.” Parham continues, “There are several points in which one can judge Cooper’s efforts here. Much like his debut feature, ‘A Star Is Born,’ he again wears multiple hats for this production. His direction is the one to take particular note of because it is the most significant leap in quality between these two features. Cooper has a commanding sense of the camera, both in movement and composition. The imagery he creates alongside cinematographer Matthew Libatique is often breathtaking. There are grandiose gestures, such as the opening shot that bursts through a concert hall with an energizing exuberance. However, even the still moments have a real power. The presentation of a bickering fight is played wide and far, but the emotion still feels right up close. The filmmaking is a wonderful feat, and it’s a welcomed delight to see his talents evolve.”
Ryan Lattanzio of IndieWire says, “Bradley Cooper exerts and exhausts his soul to not only direct and co-write ‘Maestro,’ about the great composer and New York Philharmonic conductor Leonard Bernstein, but also to star as the complicated musical legend widely known for writing the score for ‘West Side Story.’ Much ado has already been made about the prosthetic nose the gentile second-time feature filmmaker dons to inhabit the specific skin of the Jewish maestro, who died of a heart attack in 1990 at 72. This feat of sculptural makeup effects by artist Kazu Hiro is an unnecessary distraction that never stops reminding you that the person underneath is actually Bradley Cooper, not Bernstein.” Concluding, “Nose aside, ‘Maestro’ is a technical triumph in terms of checking all the boxes of multihyphenate-ism — Cooper funnels himself into the project at every creative level — but this handsomely made Oscar-tailored package actually belongs to another person entirely, and that would be Carey Mulligan, playing Bernstein’s wife of nearly four decades, Felicia Montealegre.”
Following a month in theaters, audiences will be able to stream the film on Netflix beginning December 20.
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