Maestro

It's been five years since Bradley Cooper made his directorial debut with the remake nobody knew they wanted. He makes his encore with Maestro, in which he embodies the one and only Leonard Bernstein himself. Let's see how he did.

Actually, let's first see how the makeup team, supervised by the twice Oscar-awarded Kazu Hiro, did. When we first see Leonard, he's about seventy and playing piano for a news crew. I've seen videos of him conduct the 1984 recording of West Side Story, and the 1989 Candide concert (which, as of this sentence, I'm listening to now), and when I first saw stills of Cooper in old man makeup, I legitimately thought it was Leonard himself. He also ages Carey Mulligan - as Leonard's wife, Felicia Montealegre - to stunning unrecognizability. Do your own comparison and you'll understand why Hiro's third Oscar is pretty much inevitable.

The movie formally begins in 1943, when Leonard is asked to fill-in at the last minute for the Philharmonic's Bruno Walter for a concert. His triumphant debut is followed by him meeting Felicia at a party. They get married in 1951, though he has to break it off with his longtime boyfriend, David Oppenheim (Matt Bohmer). Felicia is understanding of Leonard's bisexuality, but not of his continuing affairs and his towering ego. By the 1970s, Leonard and Felicia's marriage is on the rocks, though they eventually affirm their love for each other before it's too late. That's basically it.

Cooper's performance isn't completely overshadowed by the makeup artistry. He greets his last-minute gig with infectious elation and his love for his craft is palpable when he conducts. On the downside, he can get pretty cold with his loved ones, including his daughter, Jamie (Maya Hawke), when he tries his hand at rumor control. I'll discuss him a bit more when I get to Felicia, but I'll skip ahead to some pivotal bits. While she accuses him of conducting "with rage in [his] heart," his reaction to her terminal diagnosis and his climactic conducting of The Resurrection Symphony shows the genuine love. 

Mulligan's performance perfectly complements Cooper's. Felicia and Leonard's relationship is initially radiant - a bit ironic since Matthew Libatique films their early years in stark black-and-white - and it's quite enjoyable to see them fantasize themselves in On The Town. It's also nice to see them rejoice over her Broadway debut in If Five Years Pass. The honeymoon years officially end once the film switches to color. By then, she's worn down by age and exhaustion, which finally explodes during a Thanksgiving argument where rips his ego apart. Still, they get a nice reconciliation after The Resurrection Symphony. 

Does anyone else get time to shine? Sarah Silverman stands out as Leonard's sister Shirley, who gives him and Felicia much needed emotional support. Michael Urie, Nick Blaemire and Mallory Portnoy make the most of their cameos as some of Leonard's future musical collaborators, Jerome Robbins, Adolph Green and Betty Comden, respectively. Let's not forget Hawke, who as Jamie, tries to make sense of her parents' rocky relationship.

Naturally, the soundtrack is populated by a setlist of Leonard's accomplishments. They all sound great as conducted by the London Symphony Orchestra. His musical debut, accompanied by his overture to On The Waterfront, is a small sample of the spectacular work of the now Oscar-shortlisted sound designers. It's not just the music, but the busy chatter, that perfectly accentuates the scene. Libatique also gets points in that scene with his long take of Leonard making his way to the theatre. The rest of the film spotlights a few of Leonard's lesser-known works like A Quiet Place and Trouble In Tahiti as much as his crowning achievements. 

Maestro is a film that resonates with repeated viewings. Its rather familiar plot - I was repeatedly reminded of the Cole Porter biopic De-Lovely - was just fine on the first watch. I genuinely understand its intricacies as I watch it a second time while I type this review. Its central relationship is decently compelling all the way through. It's ready for you to stream on Netflix. Who knows, it might resonate with you much quicker than with me. That's it for now.