Movie · 2023 · Drama, Romance, Music · 2h 9m · R · English
Curator score: 3.6/10 (401.2K ratings)
Overview
A towering and fearless love story chronicling the lifelong relationship between Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein. A love letter to life and art, Maestro at its core is an emotionally epic portrayal of family and love.
Ratings
Curator score: 3.6/10
IMDb: 6.5/10
Letterboxd: 3.15/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 78%
Metacritic: 77
TMDB: 6.3/10
Director
Bradley Cooper
Production
Amblin Entertainment, Fred Berner Films, Sikelia Productions, Lea Pictures
Cast
Carey Mulligan, Bradley Cooper, Matt Bomer, Vincenzo Amato, Greg Hildreth, Michael Urie, Brian Klugman, Nick Blaemire, Mallory Portnoy, Alexandra Santini, Jarrod LaBine, Sarah Silverman, Kate Eastman, William Hill, Valéry Lessard, Renée Stork, Tim Rogan, Sara Sanderson, Yasen Peyankov, Julia Aku
Where to watch
Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A polished, emotionally ambitious biographical romance with strong performances and elegant craft, but it often feels more curated than deeply felt. The film’s strengths are its acting, visual control, and melancholy mood; its weakness is a tendency to keep Bernstein at a dramatic distance.
Best for
viewers who like prestige biopics with lush period style
fans of intimate marriage dramas
people drawn to strong lead performances and awards-season craft
audiences who enjoy melancholy, reflective relationship stories
Skip if
you want a deeply revealing portrait of a major artist
you prefer biopics with a more propulsive narrative
you’re impatient with self-conscious Oscar-bait aesthetics
you want a film that fully explores music-making and creative process
Overview
Maestro is at its best when it treats a marriage as the central performance, not just the backdrop to a famous man’s career. Carey Mulligan gives the film its emotional voltage, and Bradley Cooper’s direction is controlled, graceful, and often beautiful to look at, especially in the black-and-white passages and the carefully staged domestic scenes.
Worth noting
What keeps it from fully landing is a certain emotional polish. The movie often suggests depth rather than digging for it, and Bernstein can feel more like an emblem of artistic restlessness than a fully opened character. The film’s interest in music, fame, sexuality, and family is real, but it sometimes skims the surface of each.
Bottom line
Even so, it’s an accomplished, mournful prestige drama with real feeling in its best stretches. If you respond to performance-driven relationship films and don’t mind a more formal, composed approach, it has enough craft and sadness to hold you.
Top Letterboxd reviews
neorapp (2.5★) · 10250 likes
a tár is born
Griffin Newman · 7724 likes
Hollywood so out of ideas they’re already making TÁR prequels.
Matt Singer (2.5★) · 7492 likes
I like the cinematography. I like the makeup. I like the acting. I really like the editing. I like that it starts with Comden and Green and ends with Tears for Fears. And yet ... I don’t really like Maestro. My second viewing left me just as cold as the first.
I don’t feel like I walk away having learned much about Bernstein. I don’t know what made him a great composer. I don’t know why he was such a… more
Marya E. Gates (2★) · 6857 likes
This movie doesn’t have anything to say about music. This movie doesn’t have anything to say about artistry. This movie doesn’t have anything to say about relationships. This movie doesn’t have anything to say about marriage. This movie doesn’t have anything to say about parenting. This doesn’t have anything to say about sexuality. This movie doesn’t have anything to say.
James (Schaffrillas) (3★) · 6555 likes
Not the worst Oscar bait I've seen, though considering how desperately Bradley Cooper wants to win one, it is really funny that Carey Mulligan acts circles around him in every scene they're both in