Common Sense Media Review
By Tara McNamara
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Creative but uneven Bernstein biopic has smoking, drugs.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
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Maestro
What's the Story?
In MAESTRO, conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein (Bradley Cooper) meets actress Felicia Cohn Montealegre (Carey Mulligan), and -- despite his romantic involvement with clarinetist David Oppenheim (Matt Bomer) -- the two fall in love. After Leonard and Felicia marry and have three children together, his career skyrockets, while hers stagnates. On the road and in the studio, Bernstein stops denying his penchant for male company. The story isn't told like a straightforward biopic, but rather as a cinematic experience that reflects the Bernsteins' life together (for instance, some fanciful moments are presented more like a stage production).
Is It Any Good?
Cooper composes a creative approach to Leonard Bernstein's life story in this romantic drama. Like a great musical composition, Maestro evokes a sense of who Bernstein was and the life he lived, rather than reciting the specifics of his accomplishments and acrimony. That artistic approach, though, isn't going to appeal to everyone. The couple's highbrow word choices and the characters' Robert Altman-style tendency to talk on top of one another make your ears strain to figure out what they're saying. It's frustrating, but it also serves to create a kind of patter -- their layered lingo is a like a drumbeat.
Filmed in black and white when the Bernsteins are in the throes of love and in color when they're emotionally detaching, the movie's cinematography is gorgeous. Every shot is an art shot, so much that it almost seems to be screaming, "Look at me! Aren't you impressed? Give me an award!" On the other hand, it all falls in line with creating a work that shows us who Leonard Bernstein was: a showman with a big personality who, either personally or through his music, would grab and squeeze you and leave you thinking of him even after he let go. The problem with that is that the film was produced and authorized by the Bernstein children as a means to recognize and celebrate their mother. And while Mulligan brings Felicia's stiff upper lip and disillusionment to full glory, the movie is called Maestro, and it only reinforces Felicia as a tragic figure in Bernstein's larger-than-life story.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the controversy surrounding the fact that Cooper, who isn't Jewish or bisexual, plays Bernstein in Maestro. Should actors have the same backgrounds as the characters they portray? Why are diverse representations important in the media?
Talk about the challenges that Jewish and queer people faced in the United States in the 1940s–'60s. How are those issues depicted in the movie? How can entertainment be a tool in overcoming prejudice?
How are drug use and drinking depicted? Is substance use glamorized? Are there realistic consequences? Why does that matter?
Compare Maestro to Cooper's directorial debut, A Star Is Born. How are the two films similar? How are they different?
How did Felicia become a supporting character in her husband's story?
Movie Details
- In theaters : November 22, 2023
- On DVD or streaming : December 20, 2023
- Cast : Bradley Cooper , Carey Mulligan , Matt Bomer , Maya Hawke
- Director : Bradley Cooper
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s) , Gay Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Netflix
- Genre : Drama
- Topics : Arts ( Music and Sing-Along )
- Character Strengths : Communication
- Run time : 129 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : some language and drug use
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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